




J r 

Class %T i 2~ 1 
Hnn k , H 7 

Copyright 'N? 

COPYRIGHT deposit. 









‘ 


. 
















































% 
















- 
































• ■ . ' 

■ 
















* 



































■ 


























































♦ 





































































* 
































THE HOLY SPIRIT 


A STUDY 




By 

BISHOP WILSON T. HOGUE, 


“ One accent of the Holy Ghost 
The heedless world has never lost" 


CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

WILLIAM B. ROSE, Agent 
1132 Washington Boulevard 
1916 


Ph. D. 


Copyright, 1916 

BY 

Wilson T. Hogue 



©CI.A438130 

^ / 

* 1 


M^n 




TO 

ALL HUMBLE AND DEVOUT STUDENTS 
OF “THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD” 
THIS VOLUME 

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
BY THE AUTHOR 



CONTENTS 




Chapter Page 

I. Importance of the Subject 3 

II. The Holy Spirit a Person 16 

III. The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 26 

IV. Names of the Holy Spirit 33 

V. Emblems of the Holy Spirit 40 

VI. Dispensation of the Holy Spirit 53 

VII. Dispensation of the Holy Spirit — Con- 
tinued 63 

VIII. Pentecostal Effusion of the Holy Spirit 71 

IX. Pentecostal Effusion of the Holy Spirit 

— Continued 85 

X. The Holy Spirit as the Comforter 99 

XI. The Holy Spirit as the Comforter — Con- 
tinued 118 

XII. The Holy Spirit as the Comforter — Con- 
tinued 133 

XIII. The Holy Spirit as Comforter Convicting 

of Sin 143 

XIV. The Holy Spirit as Comforter Convicting 

of Sin — Continued ~. 154 

XV. The Holy Spirit as Comforter Convicting 

of Righteousness 161 

XVI. The Holy Spirit as Comforter Convicting 

of Righteousness — Continued 169 

XVII. The Holy Spirit as Comforter Convicting 

of Judgment 182 

XVIII. The Holy Spirit as Comforter Convicting 

of Judgment — Continued 193 

XIX. The Holy Spirit as Comforter in the 

Hearts of Believers 204 

XX. The Holy Spirit as Comforter in the 

Hearts of Believers— Continued 224 

vii 


CONTENTS 


viii 


Chapter 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 


Page 


The Holy Spirit’s Work in Regeneration. . 243 

The Holy Spirit in Sanctification 264 

The Holy Spirit and the Church 282 

The Holy Spirit and the Christian Minis- 
try 301 

The Holy Spirit and His Gifts 321 

The Holy Spirit and His Gifts — Continued 342 

Dishonoring the Holy Spirit 304 

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit 377 


PREFACE 


The subject of this volume is one that has burned 
in the author’s heart for more than thirty years. It 
engaged pretty much all his spare time for Bible 
study from 1884 to 1890 in connection with the duties 
of a pastoral charge. Most of the contents were 
written at that time. It was not then definitely in- 
tended to produce a book on the subject, although 
the possibility of doing so was occasionally in mind. 
The book might have appeared much earlier but for 
the frank and friendly advice of an older brother 
minister. At a conference in Galt, Ontario, where 
the author and the older minister were entertained 
together, a disclosure was made to the brother min- 
ister of what had been done in the way of study and 
writing on the subject, with the suggestion that what 
had been written might some day be published in 
permanent form. He replied in substance as fol- 
lows : “Now, let me give you some advice. You had 
better let that matter rest for ten years ; as then your 
thought and judgment will be more mature.” 

So far as the matter of making a book on the sub- 
ject was concerned the brother’s advice was followed, 
although the subject was still much in mind, and con- 
tinued to burn hotly in the author’s heart. The mat- 
ter was allowed to rest not only for one decade, but 
another, and another, until more than thirty years 
had passed before the book was finally decided upon. 

ix 


X 


PREFACE 


During these protracted delays the manuscript was 
occasionally reviewed and revised, and the subject 
was one of much thought and study, the results of 
which have been incorporated in the book as it now 
appears. 

The rich spiritual benefit received by the author 
from his research and meditation on the subject, as 
also his having found the study an invaluable key 
to nearly the whole Bible, together with the fact that 
there are few volumes to be found broadly treating 
the general subject of The Holy Spirit, have been his 
most cogent reasons for the production of this vol- 
ume. Much less attention has been given to the Holy 
Spirit and His work by religious and theological 
writers generally than the subject has merited ; and 
most of those who have written on the subject have 
confined themselves to certain phases of it, rather 
than attempting to discuss it in a more general 
way. Of course, one could not discuss every phase 
of truth respecting the Holy Spirit presented in the 
Scriptures without either confining himself to 
scrappy comments, or else producing so bulky a vol- 
ume as to be impractical for common use. Not wish- 
ing to go to either of these extremes, and yet desiring 
to set forth all the more important scriptural phases 
of the subject, has led to the production of the present 
work. 

The aim has been to adapt the volume to popular 
needs, and therefore metaphysical and philosophical 
discussion has been avoided, as too abstruse for the 
common reader, and a direct and simple style has 
generally been employed, as also an expository 
method, both being more in keeping with the author’s 


PREFACE 


xi 


purpose. The method advised by the prophet Habak- 
kuk (2:2) has been quite scrupulously adhered to: 

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, 
that he may run that readeth it.” 

Chapters II-V were published more than twenty 
years ago in the Free Methodist, and with some re- 
vision are herein republished from that periodical. 
Also the chapters on “The Holy Spirit and His Gifts” 
appeared at nearly the same time in the Bible Ban- 
ner, and, with some abridgment and much revision, 
have been reproduced from that magazine. The chap- 
ter on “The Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit” is 
the substance of a sermon preached a number of 
times years ago by the author, and more recently 
adapted to this volume. 

Credits have usually been given for borrowed mat- 
ter in the body of the work. Accordingly no acknowl- 
edgments need to be made here, except it be to say 
that the works which have influenced the author most 
in the production of this volume are : “The Doctrine 
of the Holy Spirit,” by the Rev. Dr. John Owen, a 
seventeenth century Puritan divine; “The Mission 
of the Comforter,” by Arch-deacon J. C. Hare of Eng- 
land, the third edition of which appeared in 1846; 
“The Work of the Holy Spirit,” by Professor James 
S. Candlish, of Free Church College, Glasgow, Scot- 
land ; “The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit,” by the Rev. 
J. B. Walker, D. D., an American writer of note on 
the philosophy of experimental salvation; “The Of- 
fices of the Holy Spirit,” by Dougan Clark, M. D., of 
Worcester, England; “The Paraclete, an Essay on 
the Personality and Ministry of the Holy Ghost with 
Some Reference to Current Discussions,” by the Rev. 


xii 


PREFACE 


Joseph Parker, D. D., of London, England; “The 
Baptism of the Holy Ghost/’ by the Rev. Asa Mahan, 
D. D. ; and a valuable little work entitled, “Spirit 
and Life,” by the late Amory H. Bradford, D. D., 
pastor of the First Congregational Church, Mont- 
clair, New Jersey. 

The author also wishes to make acknowledgment 
of the highly valuable service rendered by his per- 
sonal friend, Professor David S. Warner, in pre- 
paring the Indexes to the contents of this volume. 
His work has been admirably done, and adds much 
to the value of the book. 

It is the author’s supreme desire that, so far as 
they shall be approved of heaven, the teachings of 
this book may be translated into the actual experi- 
ence of the reader, and may become sources of in- 
spiration, strength, courage, and effectiveness in the 
service of our glorious Redeemer. “For this cause 
I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and 
earth is named, that He would grant you, according 
to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with 
might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ 
may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being 
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to compre- 
hend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, 
and depth, and height; and to know the love of 
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be 
filled with all the fulness of God.” 

Wilson T. Hogue. 


Michigan City , Indiana. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT 






























































% 













































/ 































I 


IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT 

The importance of giving careful attention to the 
nature and work of the Holy Spirit as presented 
in the Christian Scriptures can scarcely be over-esti- 
mated. The manifestation of the Spirit is the com- 
pletion of that theological revelation which has been 
vouchsafed to mankind for their salvation. It is last 
in the order of time, but by no means last or least 
in importance. In this case that which is last in the 
successive revelations becomes foremost in impor- 
tance. 


A PHILOSOPHICAL DISTINCTION 

The succession indicated by the words Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost is by no means an arbitrary one. Nor 
is it merely nominal or accidental. The terms are 
indicative of “a philosophical progress and culmina- 
tion.” They are not used like algebraic symbols, 
which would be equally appropriate if they were in- 
verted, or if other terms were substituted for them. 
Any transposition of the order in which the words 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost occur, would neces- 
sarily be felt to be violent, unnatural, destructive of 
their proper meaning, resulting in a meaningless ag- 
glomeration of words. 


3 


4 


IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT 


In endeavoring to think ourselves back toward 
“the beginning” of the things that are, whatever we 
come upon as a resting place for the mere critical 
faculty, be it Force, Energy, the Unknowable, or what 
not, we are conscious of nought but keenest disap- 
pointment — conscious of the need of a friendship, 
fellowship, kinship, sympathy, and helpfulness which 
are not merely cosmic in character, but which are 
adapted to alleviating our sorrows, soothing our 
heart-aches, and satisfying the deep yearnings of the 
heart for love and all its kindred graces. “Then is 
suggested the biblical word Father, and with it comes 
at least a promise of satisfaction ; it is felt to be the 
true starting-point, having difficulties of its own, no 
doubt, but difficulties that may be overcome. The 
Fatherhood is not emotional, but causative and sov- 
ereign paternity. Logic can do but little towards its 
explanation; the mind must accept this idea of 
Fatherhood as the mind accepts itself, a mystery 
certainly, but not greater except in degree than the 
silent, invisible, spiritual life that is in every 
man.”* 

But the term Fatherhood includes the idea of Son- 
ship. It has a plural implication. It is an inclusive 
term. It is at once suggestive of childhood, and this 
idea of childhood is realized in the Sonship of Jesus 
Christ. He was the Son of God in visible manifesta- 
tion ; but when He had been manifested on the stage 
of human history sufficiently to establish His place 
and identity among men, His presence was with- 
drawn from ocular gaze and criticism, that men’s 
faith in Him should be raised from the visible to the 

*Dr. Joseph Parker’s “The Paraclete,” p. 10. 


A PHILOSOPHICAL DISTINCTION 


5 


invisible Christ, that they might know Him “not 
after the law of a carnal commandment, but after 
the power of an endless life.^ 

It was fitting, in view of His exalted nature as Son 
of God, that as soon as His identity was established 
and His bodily mission among men was fulfilled, He 
should “vanish out of their sight.” He came to re- 
veal God, who is a Spirit, and to teach men to “wor- 
ship Him in Spirit and in truth and when He had 
revealed the Father and taught the necessity of spiri- 
tual worship, His earthly mission was accomplished ; 
and to have remained longer among men in material 
form would have been to defeat the end He had in 
view — that of making men spiritual worshipers. The 
presence of the corporeal, visible Christ was with- 
drawn, that the invisible, abiding Presence might be 
vouchsafed to men. “Then, according to Christian 
teaching, was to come manifestation without visibil- 
ity ; instead of bodily presence, there was to be a new 
experience of life, spirituality, insight, sensibility, 
and sympathy almost infallible in holy instinct. In 
one word, the Holy Man was to be followed by the 
Holy Ghost”* 

Moreover, the whole historic movement, as Dr. 
Parker has admirably shown, has been a movement 
toward spirituality. The progress of creation, the 
system of redemption, the order of written testimony, 
the development of the whole law, all are movements 
in the same direction, approaching more and more 
nearly to that which is purely spiritual, until at last 
in the order of the Gospel economy, the pentecostal 
outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurs as the climax 

2 ♦“Tie Paraclete,” p. 11. 


6 


IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT 


of the whole progression, and the dispensation of 
spiritual religion is fully ushered in. 

Says the eminent Dean Stanley, referring to the 
dispensation of the Spirit as succeeding the dispen- 
sations of the Father and of the Son : 

There is yet a third manifestation of God. Natural re- 
ligion may become vague and abstract. Historical religion 
may become, as it often has become, perverted, distorted, ex- 
hausted, formalized; and its external proofs may become 
dubious, its inner meaning may be almost lost. There have 
been oftentimes Christians who were not like Christ — a 
Christianity which was not the religion of Christ. But there 
is yet another aspect of the Divine Nature. Besides the 
reverence for that which is above us, and the reverence for 
that which is beneath us, there is also the reverence for that 
which is within us. There is yet (if we may venture to 
vary Goethe’s parable) another form of religion, and that is 
spiritual religion. As the name of the Father represents to 
us God in Nature, as the name of the Son represents to us 
God in History, so the name of the Holy Ghost represents to 
us God in our own hearts, and spirits, and consciences. This 
is the still, small voice — stillest and smallest, yet loudest 
and strongest of all — which, even more than the wonders of 
nature or the wonders of history, brings us into nearest 
harmony with Him who is a Spirit — who, when His closest 
communion with man is described, can only be described as 
the Spirit pleading with, and dwelling in our spirit.* 

THE HOLY SPIRIT FUNDAMENTAL 

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is fundamental in 
Christianity. This is evident from the fact that 
Christianity is a life . That which is the chief essen- 
tial of Christianity is not a creed, not a philosophy, 
not conformity to a prescribed ritual, not a certain 

♦“Christian Institutions,” p. 251. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT FUNDAMENTAL 


7 


round of duties in the form of good works; for one 
may be faultless in all these respects and yet be as 
remote from being a real, New Testament Christian 
as he who pays no attention to any of these things. 
To be a Christian in the true sense of the word is to 
be a partaker of the life of Jesus Christ. Without 
this no man is a Christian, however orthodox his be- 
lief, however sound his philosophy, however amiable 
his natural traits of character, however beneficent 
his deeds. As Dr. Amory H. Bradford aptly says, 
“A man is a Platonist who accepts the philosophy of 
Plato, and a Kantean who accepts the philosophy 
of Kant, and a Calvinist who accepts the philosophy 
of Calvin; but a man may believe all the teachings 
of Jesus and be a devil. Not belief, but life, makes 
a man a Christian.”* 

But the great question is, “How may we become 
partakers of that life ?” How may we become con- 
nected with One who left this world nearly two mil- 
leniums ago ? Is it possible in any real sense to come 
into relation with Him? Are not those Scriptures 
which seem to speak of such relation to be regarded 
as merely highly wrought figures of speech? Is it 
not mysticism, enthusiasm, fanaticism, to lay claim 
to being in living relation with the Son of God? 
Though we admit the fact that Jesus Christ w^as 
raised from the dead and is still a living Christ, en- 
throned in the highest heaven, there is still somewhat 
of the same difficulty, for He appears at best to be 
an absent Christ, so far remote from us that we can 
not reach Him. How then can He transform me 
when He is far beyond my reach? How can I be 

♦“Spirit and Life,” p. 10. 


8 


IMPORTANCE OP THE SUBJECT 


expected to follow a leader whom I can not see or 
know? 

Thus we are brought face to face with the fact of 
the necessity that the work which the Lord Jesus 
began while He was among men should be carried on 
by some one who can authoritatively represent Him. 
But who shall it be? Certainly not the Pope of 
Borne, for he is but a man. Nor has any council of 
the Church, or of the Churches, been invested with 
authority to speak and act in the name of Christ. 
Moreover, it may be said with all reverence for the 
sacredness of the Holy Scriptures that these can 
never take the place of Jesus Christ in the world. 
There is but one Agent in the whole universe who 
can authoritatively speak and act in Jesus Christ’s 
stead — “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.” 
Kegarding Him Jesus said, “If I depart, I will send 
Him unto you.” “And He shall abide with you for 
ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world can 
not receive, because it knoweth Him not ; * * * but ye 
know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be 
in you.” “When He is come He shall reprove the 
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.” 
“He shall teach you all things.” “He shall guide 
you into all truth.” “He shall testify of Me.” “He 
shall glorify Me.” “He shall show you things to 
come.” “He shall receive of the things of Mine, and 
shall show them unto you.” “Ye shall receive power, 
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” 

As Jesus Christ was God in human relations, continuing 
a work for the salvation of men, so the Holy Spirit is God 
carrying on that work, not far away but nearer to men than 
Jesus Christ Himself ever was, as spirit can get nearer to 


THE PRIMARY OBJECT OF SATANIC ASSAULT 


9 


spirit than body to spirit. How near can spirit get to spirit? 
My friend’s body may be in China; my friend’s spirit is in 
my spirit, so that I think his thoughts and do his wishes. 
My friend’s body is in the ground mingling with the common 
earth, but he himself is here, more intensely alive than 
ever, so that I live to carry out his purposes. Paul said, 
“Christ liveth in me.” That was literally true. God, not 
far away and unloving, but as near as spirit can get to 
spirit ; God, not leaving us to a Book that He has inspired, 
but coming nearer than any book can come, and helping us 
to understand that Book ; God, not asking us to cry so that 
our voices can pierce the spaces, but telling us that He is 
nigh us, even in our hearts — this is the teaching of Christian- 
ity concerning the Holy Spirit.* 


THE PRIMARY OBJECT OF SATANIC ASSAULT 

The Holy Spirit being thus fundamental to Chris- 
tianity it is nothing strange that Satan should have 
set himself from earliest times to the task of blinding 
or deceiving men as to the nature and operations of 
this Divine Agent, thereby endeavoring to hold men 
in the blindness of unbelief, and in the bondage of iniq- 
uity, by essentially concealing from them the object 
of saving faith, and setting aside the quickening, 
transforming, sanctifying power of the Gospel. 
Through more than eighteen centuries it has been the 
artful and effectual device of the devil to rob men 
of the great characteristic promise of the New Testa- 
ment dispensation; a promise which was distinctly 
and impressively given by our Lord in the final and 
most memorable hour of His earthly ministry— that 
the Holy Spirit should descend upon the Church 
after the Redeemer’s ascension , and should come to 

♦Bradford’s “Spirit and Life,” p. 20. 


10 


IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT 


abide with all true believers forever , as their indwell- 
ing Comforter, Teacher, Guide, and Sanctifier. 

As already intimated there have been three great 
epochs or dispensations in the history of redemption, 
corresponding to and successively manifesting the 
three Persons of the Godhead. Under each of these 
dispensations it has fallen within the purpose of 
Satan to hide from men the character and work of 
the Divine Person whom that particular economy was 
designed to manifest, and thereby to obscure the 
agency by which alone the object of saving faith 
could be effectually revealed. Under the dispensa- 
tion of the Father his unceasing effort was directed 
to the work of blinding men to the true character 
and to the very existence of God. Hence the constant 
inclination of God’s ancient people to idolatry. Al- 
though its foolishness and wickedness w r ere repeat- 
edly demonstrated by methods involving the chosen 
people in retributions severe and terrible, yet they 
were ever prone to yield to its infatuation, and, apos- 
tatizing from the faith, to “worship and serve the 
creature more than the Creator.” 

Under the dispensation of the Son, which reached 
its culmination when “God was manifested in the 
flesh,” the prince of darkness diligently applied him- 
self to the task of blinding men to the Divine nature 
and mission of Jesus Christ. “If our Gospel be 
hid,” says St. Paul, “it is hid to them that are lost ; 
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the 
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the 
glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, 
should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4 : 3, 4) . It is recorded 
of the Incarnate Word that “He was in the world, 


THE PRIMARY OBJECT OF SATANIC ASSAULT 


II 


and the world was made by Him, and the world knew 
Him not. He came unto His own, and His own re- 
ceived Him not” (John 1:10, 11). They cried: 
“Away with Him! Crucify Him!” Accordingly He 
was put to death on the cross, as an impostor and 
malefactor. But God “raised Him from the dead, 
and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly 
places, far above all principality, and power, and 
might, and dominion, and every name that is named, 
not only in this world, but also in that which is to 
come” (Eph. 1:20, 21). 

As a result and demonstration of the finished 
atonement of Christ, when He had ascended up on 
high, the Holy Ghost was given in His plenitude, and 
the dispensation of the Spirit was inaugurated. 
Since that event it has been the masterpiece of 
satanic device to blind men to the nature and opera- 
tions of the Holy Ghost, the administrative Agent 
with whom the whole business pertaining to man’s 
reconciliation with God now has to be transacted. 

Accordingly it is not at all uncommon to find 
great confusion, error and skepticism in regard to 
the character and office-work of the Holy Spirit. 
There are many, even among professedly Christian 
people, who entertain no higher conception of the 
Spirit of God than that of an impersonal, mysterious, 
indefinable, but supernatural influence; or, that of 
a particular emanation, manifestation or attribute 
of Deity; either of which is a most degrading con- 
ception, and one which is an impassable barrier to 
the attainment of a deep, personal and scriptural 
experience in the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
With some this is almost an unconscious skepticism; 


12 


IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT 


but with many, in some instances with whole denomi- 
nations, it assumes the form of a systematic denial 
of a doctrine, or of doctrines, absolutely essential to 
Christianity. 

There is also a tendency, even among those who 
are generally considered “orthodox,” to underesti- 
mate and despise the Holy Spirit and His work. 

Not to mention the Socinians [says the venerable Dr. 
Owen] , who have gathered into one head, or rather ulcerous 
imposthume, all the virulent oppositions made to His Deity 
or grace by the Photinians, Macedonians and Pelagians of 
old; there are others, who, professing no enmity to His 
Divine Person, yea, admitting the doctrine of the Church con- 
cerning it, are yet ready, on all occasions, to despise His 
whole work. * * * And some have taken pains to prove 

that various things expressly assigned to Him in the Gospel, 
as effects of His power and grace, are only filthy enthusiasms, 
or, at least, weak imaginations of distempered minds. Nor 
is there any end of calumnious imputations on those who 
avow His work and profess His grace. For let any persons 
but plead for the known work of the Spirit of God, and they 
are immediately charged with leaving the rule of the Word 
to attend to revelations and inspirations, as also to forego 
all thoughts of the necessity of the duties of obedience; 
though no work of His is pleaded for but that, without which 
no man can attend to the rule of Scripture as he ought, nor 
perform one duty of obedience in a proper manner.* 

CONFLICT OF THE FUTURE 

The great and decisive conflict to be waged by the 
Church in the near future, will doubtless be a con- 
flict between faith and unbelief regarding those vital 
truths which concern the doctrine and ministry of 
the Holy Ghost. The great aim of a Sadducean creed 

♦“Doctrine of the Holy Spirit,” p.*ll. 


IMPORTANCE OF BEING PREPARED 


13 


has ever been, and the direct aim of the subtle infi- 
delity of modem times manifestly is, to ignore all 
spiritual existences and agencies; “to banish God 
from the world; to deny all miraculous agency and 
all moral regeneration ; to proclaim a cold, dull, dead 
materialism ; and to bind the universe in the chains 
of fixed, irreversible and inviolable law.” 

The great battle of Armageddon itself seems to be 
drawing near. That long-predicted and decisive 
struggle will probably relate to the reality of spiri- 
tual existencies and agencies, rather than to the out- 
ward facts and events of Christian history. The 
existence and operation of a Divine Agency, working 
out grand spiritual results, and effecting great moral 
transformations and regenerations will be ignored; 
“man’s personal spirituality will be denied ; thought 
itself will be more emphatically pronounced but a 
form or expression of matter ; and, as a logical neces- 
sity, so far as these things are supposed to be proved, 
Christianity will be regarded as the outcome of a 
tragical mistake, and the entire theological idea be 
classed with the nightmares of paganism.” 

IMPORTANCE OF BEING PREPARED 

This being the probable character and course of 
the impending contest to be waged between Chris- 
tianity and the confederate powers of Antichrist, 
how important it is that every Christian be thorough- 
ly and fully prepared to withstand the encroach- 
ments and assaults of the gross, persistent, blatant 
and boastful Sadduceeism of the age, and that the 
Church should be equipped with that spiritual armor 


14 


IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT 


whereby she will be able “to stand against the wiles 
of the devil,” and to overthrow the strongholds of 
materialistic philosophy and skepticism! 

This preparation can be had only by an experi- 
mental acquaintance with the Holy Ghost in the pe- 
culiar ministration of grace and life ascribed to Him 
in the Scriptures. The promise, “Ye shall receive 
power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” 
etc., holds good in relation to all believers, and to the 
entire Church, throughout the whole dispensation of 
the Spirit. And the special supernatural enduement 
and furnishing therein provided, are alone adequate 
to gird the Church of God for glorious and final 
triumph in the struggle now impending ! 

It is scarcely possible, therefore, we repeat, to over- 
estimate the importance of correct views concerning 
the nature and office-work of the Holy Spirit. In 
proportion as we are in error regarding these mat- 
ters, the greater is our peril — the greater the danger, 
yea, the probability, that we shall be carried away 
on the current of a popular sentimentalism into the 
broad waste of gross materialism. If we conceive 
of the Holy Spirit as a mere attribute, influence, 
emanation or manifestation of God, we shall neces- 
sarily suffer an “eclipse of faith,” or, rather, of the 
object of faith, which is Jesus Christ ; since it is the 
Spirit alone who can disclose the glorified Christ as 
the object of saving faith. And if Christ be not re- 
vealed in us, as “over all, God blessed forevermore,” 
we shall utterly fail of finding such a manifestation 
of God as will satisfy the demands of the human 
soul. Without this we shall be left to wander in the 
labyrinths of error and unbelief; or, perchance, to 


IMPORTANCE OF BEING PREPARED 


15 


betake ourselves to the cold realm of mere natural 
religion, and there grope vainly about to find Him in 
the visible creation. The beauties of nature, the glories 
of the universe, the sun, moon and stars, the land- 
scapes, forests, rocks and flowers will be substituted 
for the Divine Christ ; a religion of spirituality will 
be succeeded by a religion of mere estheticism ; from 
a sensuous religion the step will be short and natural 
to a religion of sensuality ; and the end will be hope- 
less apostasy ! 


II 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A PERSON 

SCRIPTURAL PROOFS 

The Bible constantly speaks of the Holy Spirit in 
language which characterizes Him as a distinct , in- 
telligent Person. In passages too numerous to be 
quoted here, He is described as exercising the func- 
tions, thoughts, volitions, and emotions which belong 
to a distinct personality. None but a real, intelligent 
person could be “pleased,” “vexed,” “grieved;” or 
could “speak,” “teach,” “guide,” “console,” “inter- 
cede,” “testify,” impart spiritual life, and “divide 
His gifts severally to every man according to His own 
will;” all of which are repeatedly ascribed to the 
Holy Spirit. 

Nor is it in a tropical or figurative sense that these 
things are ascribed to the Spirit of God in the Holy 
Scriptures. That poetic license does allow natural 
objects, and even objects of human invention, to be 
spoken of in a limited sense as living creatures, is 
admitted. The sun and moon are personified, and 
personal pronouns of masculine and feminine gender 
are applied to them. Seas, mountains, rivers, forests, 
cities, inferior orders of animate creation, and many 
of the productions of human contrivance, are also 
spoken of sometimes as performing the functions 
which belong to intelligence and personality. But 
16 


THE HOLY SPIRIT IS HE, NOT IT I? 

this is altogether different from the manner in which 
personality is ascribed to the Holy Spirit by the in- 
spired writers. Whether treating particularly and 
fully, or only incidentally and partially of the nature 
and work of the Spirit, the biblical writers invariably 
employ such terms and forms of expression as leave 
us no room to doubt that they themselves steadfastly 
believed, whether right or wrong, in the proper per- 
sonality of the Holy Ghost. 

This is also more clearly manifest when we con- 
sider that they were accustomed to speak of the Holy 
Spirit in precisely the same terms as they applied 
to the Father; so that the personality of the one 
stands or falls with the personality of the other. Any 
person who will, with the aid of a concordance or 
Bible text-book, look up the numerous instances in 
which the inspired penmen have touched upon this 
subject, will not fail to be convinced that, so far as 
it is possible for human language to escape obscurity 
when applied to purely spiritual objects, their lan- 
guage must be considered as decisive of the fact that 
they believed in, and designed to teach, the distinct 
and proper personality of the Spirit. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS HE, NOT IT 

Another evidence of the real personality of the 
Holy Spirit, and one which is closely allied to the 
preceding argument, is the fact that the Greek New 
Testament employs the masculine personal pronoun 
(eKctvo?) with the neuter noun (Tn/ev/xa), Spirit, in 
speaking of the Comforter, where the neuter pro- 
noun would be employed were it not that the noun 


l8 THE HOLY SPIRIT A PERSON 

represents a person. Our Lord Himself speaks thus : 
“When He , the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide 
you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Him- 
self; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He 
speak; and He will show you things to come” (John 
16: 13). In this brief passage there are six in- 
stances of the employment of the personal pronoun 
in the masculine gender, with a noun which in the 
original, is neuter ; besides the fact that five distinct 
acts are ascribed to the Spirit which, by no allowable 
figure of speech, could be ascribed to an impersonal 
object. 

And then St. Paul affirms: “The Spirit Himself 
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the chil- 
dren of God” (Rom. 8: 16, R. V.). Here we have an- 
other instance of the peculiar use of the masculine 
pronoun with the neuter noun, besides a form of ex- 
pression which recognizes or implies the personality 
of the witnessing Spirit equally with the personality 
of those to whose consciousness His testimony is 
borne. The rendering of the foregoing passage, as 
given in the authorized version, employs the neuter 
instead of the masculine pronoun; but this was an 
error, which in the Revised Version, has been cor- 
rected. 

ASSOCIATED WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON 

The almost constant association of the Holy Spirit 
in the Scriptures, with two other persons, one of 
whom, the Father, is universally acknowledged to be 
possessed of a distinct and proper personality, and the 
ascription to each of them, and to the three in union, 


ASSOCIATED WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON 19 


of the same thoughts, volitions, actions, titles, at- 
tributes, and authority, with the same kind of wor- 
ship, and without any distinction as to the degree 
in which all these things are ascribed to each of 
the three, furnishes another strong argument in proof 
of the distinct personality of the Spirit. 

The work of creation is ascribed to the Father, and 
to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. In Genesis 1 : 1, 
we read: “In the beginning God created the heaven 
and the earth.” In John 1 : 1-3, we read : “In the be- 
ginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. The same was in the be- 
ginning with God. All things were made by Him y 
and without Him was not anything made that was 
made.” And that this Word was none other than 
Christ, the Son of God, is made clear from the 14th 
verse: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
among us,” etc. In these two passages creation is 
ascribed to the Father and the Son respectively. But 
from other Scriptures we are informed that the 
Spirit of God was the active Agent in the work of 
creation. “The Spirit of God moved upon the face 
of the waters,” and the dry land appeared. (Gen. 
1:2.) By His Spirit “all the host” of the celestial 
worlds were made. (Psa. 33:6.) “By His Spirit He 
hath garnished the heavens” (Job 26: 13). And by 
His Spirit the Lord made man in His own image and 
likeness. (Job 33:4.) 

Providence is ascribed to a similar association of 
three persons. The One Hundred and Fourth Psalm 
beautifully celebrates the Providence of God over all 
His creatures. In verses 27-30, we read : “These wait 
all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their 


20 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A PERSON 


meat in due season. That Thou givest them they 
gather: Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled 
with good. Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled : 
Thou takest away their breath, they die and return 
to their dust. Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they 
are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” 
As the preservation of all things is elsewhere ascribed 
to the Father and the Son, so here it is ascribed to 
the Spirit of God. 

The inspiration of the Scriptures is also ascribed 
to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. “God, 
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in 
times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in 
these last days spoken unto us by His Son,” etc. (Heb. 
1:1). Here the inspiration of the prophets is 
ascribed to God, the Father. But St. Peter declares : 
“The prophecy came not in old time by the will 
of man, but holy men of God spake as they were 
moved ly the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21); and also 
that u the Spirit of Christ which was in them did 
signify” (1 Pet. 1: 11). By no legitimate rules of 
interpretation can the term, Holy Ghost, in the fore- 
going passage, be reduced to a figure of speech, to the 
name of an attribute, or to a mere synonym for the 
Divine energy. Upon any other theory than that of 
the distinct personality of the Father, of the Son, and 
of the Holy Spirit, these Scriptures are contradictory 
and unreconcilable. But, if the Holy Spirit be the 
Spirit of the Father and of the Son, united in one 
essence, the passages can be regarded as consistent 
with each other. 

The Holy Ghost is likewise associated with the 
Father and the Son in the work of Redemption, in 


ASSOCIATED WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON 21 


such a way as implies a personality as distinct as 
that of the Father or the Son. “And we have seen 
and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the 
Savior of the world” (1 John 4 : 14) . The personality 
of the Father and the Son and their union in the 
great work of human salvation, are both made clear 
in this passage. Eedemption originated in the mind 
of the everlasting Father. Its accomplishment was 
entrusted to the eternal Son. He “loved the Church, 
and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and 
cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word” 
(Eph. 5: 25-27). He “gave Himself a ransom for all, 
to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:6). “In whom 
we have redemption through His blood, the for- 
giveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7). Eedemption originated 
in the infinite grace of God the Father, and was 
wrought out by the voluntary humiliation and sacri- 
fice of the ever-blessed Son. But, in order to the 
effectual application of redemptive grace to the chil- 
dren of men, it was necessary that the earthly min- 
istry of Jesus Christ should be supplemented by the 
manifestation and ministry of the Holy Spirit. The 
Savior Himself ever insisted on this great truth, as- 
suring His disciples that the full benefits of His 
mediation could not be communicated unto them 
until His bodily presence should be withdrawn, and 
should be succeeded by the Comforter. “It is expedi- 
ent for you that I go away ; for if I go not away the 
Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I 
will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He 
will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and 
of judgment.” “He will guide you into all truth ; for 
He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He 


22 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A PERSON 


shall hear that shall He speak ; and He will show you 
things to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall 
receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” See 
John, 16th Chapter. 

Let any man, not absolutely prepossessed with prejudice, 
read over that discourse of our Savior to His disciples, in 
which He purposely instructs them in the nature and work 
of the Spirit of God, and he will need no further confirma- 
tion in this matter. He is there called “the Comforter the 
name of a person, of one vested with an office ; “another Com- 
forter,” to distinguish Him from Christ, who was a Com- 
forter and a Person, as all allow. He declared that the 
Father would send Him; and that He would accordingly 
come; and that to teach, to lead, to guide them, and to 
bring things to their remembrance: that He should testify, 
or bear witness ; that He should reprove the world ; that He 
should hear, speak, receive of Christ, and show it to them. 
All these things are spoken, not occasionally, but in a direct, 
continued discourse, purposely designed to inform the dis- 
ciples who He was, and what He would do for them. And 
if nothing more was spoken of Him in the whole Scripture, 
this alone would convince all unprejudiced men, that He is 
a distinct Person.* 


BAPTISM IN THE NAME OF THE SACRED THREE 

In accordance with and confirmatory of this doc- 
trine, all who are baptized into the faith of the 
Gospel are required to be baptized into “the name 
[efe to oro/xa] of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28; 19). And the apostolic 
form of benediction recognizes this Trinity of Persons 
as the source of all grace, and peace and blessing; 
while the personality of each is kept distinct, and the 

♦Dr. Owen’s “The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.” 


MANIFESTED UNDER VISIBLE SIGNS 


23 


prayer offered to the Three is, that all Christians may 
be common participants in the grace which proceeds 
from each of these Persons and from the union of 
the sacred Three. “The grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the 
Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” 

Now all will admit the personality of the Father 
and the Son. Some deny the Deity of Christ, but 
none that He is a Person, distinct from the Father. 
But what confusion it must introduce, and what an 
absurdity would it be, to join equally with these two 
Persons, in all that is vitally related to evangelical 
faith and obedience, the Holy Spirit, if He be not also 
a real and distinct Person ! 

MANIFESTED UNDER VISIBLE SIGNS 

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit under visible 
signs is another evidence of His distinct personality. 
When, according to the Father’s promise, a visible 
pledge of the descent of the Spirit upon the Messiah 
was to be given, that thereby His great forerunner 
might have knowledge of Him, the descending Spirit 
assumed the form of a dove. As, in the original 
creation, “the Spirit of God moved [literally 
brooded} upon the face of the waters,” cherishing, 
and communicating a prolific, vivifying quality to 
the whole, even as a dove gently moves upon her eggs, 
imparting vital warmth ; so, preparatory to the new 
creation, He descended as a dove upon Him who was 
to be its immediate Author, and abode upon Him. 
It was not a real dove that descended upon our 
Lord, but some ethereal substance, generally sup- 


24 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A PERSON 


posed to have been fiery in appearance, resembling a 
dove in form. The next visible manifestation of the 
Holy Spirit was in the form of fiery tongues, on the 
day of Pentecost. Now these manifestations, in 
which the Spirit of God was represented by those 
things which possess substance, and have a subsis- 
tence of their own, were evidently designed to teach 
us that the Holy Ghost is Himself a substance, having 
a distinct subsistence of His own. If this be not so, 
if the Spirit be only an influence, or an effect of the 
Divine energy, or an impersonal object of any kind, 
then we are incorrectly taught, and are led into gross 
error by these visible manifestations and signs. 

Finally, there is scarcely a passage in the whole 
Bible which speaks of the Holy Spirit but which 
would be reduced to a gross and palpable absurdity 
by discarding His personality, and adopting the Arian 
or Socinian theory of interpretation. Arius himself 
admitted the personality of the Spirit, but regarded 
Him as a Being created by Christ, and hence, “the 
creature of a creature.” But the Arians subsequently 
denied His personality entirely, and considered the 
Spirit of God as nothing more than the exerted 
energy of God. This view was also adopted by So- 
cinus, and, with various modifications, has been re- 
ceived by his followers generally. Some of them re- 
gard the Holy Spirit as an attribute of God, and 
others resolve the Scriptures which speak of Him 
into a mere figurative representation of God Himself. 
But if we regard Him as a mere attribute, influence, 
manifestation, or personification of God, those Scrip- 
tures which speak of Him become mere jargon. Take, 
for instance, the Christian formula of baptism al- 


MANIFESTED UNDER VISIBLE SIGNS 


25 


ready referred to, and it would read: “Baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the power [or, of the influence, or manifestation ] 
of God.” Also the apostolic benediction : “The grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and 
the communion of the power,” etc. And the passage, 
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy 
Ghost and with power,” would read : “God anointed 
Jesus of Nazareth with the power [or influence, etc.], 
and with power.” 

These few instances will serve to illustrate the un- 
intelligibility and absurdity with which the Scrip- 
tures would abound were the Holy Ghost a mere in- 
fluence, or, as the Socinians say, the exerted energy 
of God. The foregoing are a few from among many 
evidences that might be adduced to prove that the 
Holy Spirit is a distinct and proper Person. 


Ill 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A DIVINE PERSON 

The Holy Spirit is not only a Person in the sense 
in which personality may be ascribed to created 
beings, but He is a Divine Person — a Person in a 
sense that can not be predicated of any created being, 
that is, as being characterized by Essential Deity . 
The following are some of the. scriptural proofs of 
this proposition: 


DIVINE TITLES 

In Isaiah 6: 8, 9, the prophet, in relating the ac- 
count of his wonderful vision of God’s glory, says: 
“I heard the voice of the Lord [ Jehovah in the orig- 
inal], saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go 
for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me. And He 
said, Go and tell this people : Hear ye indeed, but 
understand not,” etc. Then St. Paul, in Acts 28 : 25, 
26, in quoting the latter part of this passage from 
Isaiah, introduces it with these words : “Well spake 
the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet saying, Go unto 
this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear and shall 
not understand,” etc. Now, if we admit the Divine 
inspiration of both Isaiah and St. Paul, we can but 
conclude that “the Holy Ghost” of St. Paul’s state- 
ment is identical with “the Lord,” or Jehovah , whom 
26 


DIVINE TITLES 


27 


Isaiah mentions, and that the name Jehovah, the in- 
effable name of Deity, is equally as applicable to the 
essential nature of the Holy Spirit as it is to that of 
the everlasting Father. 

Again, in the Seventy-eighth Psalm, Israel is 
charged with “provoking the Most High in the wilder- 
ness;” as having “spoken against God,” and as hav- 
ing “tempted God.” On these accounts “Jehovah was 
wroth against His people.” Referring to these same 
events, St. Stephen in his defense before the Jewish 
council, said : “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in 
heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: 
as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7 : 51) . Here He 
whom the Psalmist calls by the names Jehovah, the 
Most High, and God, St. Stephen calls the Holy 
Ghost ; and thus again is the Spirit of God identified 
with the Infinite One in a way that implies His Es- 
sential Deity. 

Then we turn to Acts 5 : 3, and we find that Ananias 
is said to “lie to the Holy Ghost.” But this is re- 
peated and interpreted in the fourth verse as follows : 
“Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” The 
same Person — the same object of Ananias’ blas- 
phemy — is expressed in both places ; and what other 
conclusion can be legitimately drawn from this fact 
but that the Holy Ghost is God ? 

Then the Holy Spirit is called Lord in a sense that 
is applicable to God alone, as where the Apostle Paul, 
in 2 Cor. 3 : 17, says : “Now the Lord is that Spirit ; 
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 
Here it is emphatically asserted that the Lord and 
the Spirit are identical. 


28 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A DIVINE PERSON 


DIVINE ATTRIBUTES 

In Hebrews 9 : 14 He is called “the eternal Spirit.” 
But eternity, in the sense of timeless being, is predica- 
ble of God alone. “The eternal Spirit” is the timeless 
One, the self-existent Being, He who is “from ever- 
lasting to everlasting,” and whom we call God. 

Omnipresence is also ascribed to the Spirit of God. 
“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither 
shall I flee from Thy Presence? If I ascend up into 
heaven, Thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, be- 
hold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morn- 
ing and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even 
there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand 
shall hold me,” etc. (Psalm 139:7-10). 

He is also presented to us as an omniscient Being. 
“For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep 
things of God. For what man knoweth the things of 
a man save the spirit of man, which is in him? even 
so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit 
of God” (1 Cor. 2:10, 11). 

Omnipotence is also an attribute of the Spirit of 
God. In Luke 1 : 35 He is called “the Power of the 
Highest.” St. Paul tells us that Jesus Christ wrought 
by him “to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and 
deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the 
power of the Spirit of God” (Rom. 15 : 18, 19). 

The Spirit is also the Author and Dispenser of 
wisdom and knowledge. “For to one is given by the 
Spirit the word of wisdom: to another the word of 
knowledge by the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12: 8). 

Then, too, He is called “the Spirit of glory and of 
God” (1 Pet. 4:14). 


DIVINE ACTIONS 


2 9 


In these, as also in numerous other instances, at- 
tributes are ascribed to the Holy Spirit by the in- 
spired writers which are the attributes of God alone. 

DIVINE ACTIONS 

We have already seen in the preceding chapter that 
He was the efficient Agent in the creation of all 
things. He is also said to have inspired “holy men of 
God” to write the sacred Scriptures. (2 Pet. 1: 21.) 

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is ascribed 
to the Holy Spirit. “For Christ also hath once suffered 
for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring 
us to God ; being put to death in the flesh, but quick- 
ened [made alive ] by the Spirit” (1 Pet. 3 : 18) . 

Then, too, the work of regenerating and sanctify- 
ing believers, and in fact all the processes of grace 
involved in the “New Creation,” are likewise ascribed 
to Him. God’s children are all “born of the Spirit” 
(John 3: 5). They are saved “by the washing of 
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost” 
(Titus 3:5). Sanctification is particularly ascribed 
to the Spirit. “God hath from the beginning chosen 
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit 
and belief of the truth.” See also Ezek. 37:28; Rom. 
15 : 16 ; with 1 Pet. 1 : 2. 

These are all actions ascribed to the Holy Spirit, 
and which it were blasphemy to ascribe to any but 
the Deity. 

EQUAL WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON 

The baptismal formula, given by Christ Himself, 
reads, “baptizing them into the name of the Father, 


30 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A DIVINE PERSON 


and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (R. V.) ; 
while the apostolic benediction says : “The grace of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the 
communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. 
Amen” (2 Cor. 13:14). These Scriptures certainly 
imply that the Holy Spirit is equal to and one with 
the Father and the Son; also that whatever is 
ascribed to the other Persons is equally ascribed to 
the Holy Spirit; and that whatever is intended by 
the name of the Father and the Son equally concerns 
the Holy Ghost. It is not the name of the Father, 
and the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy 
Ghost, else we should be required to baptize believers 
into the names of three different individuals ; but it 
is rather into the threefold name of the one God, 
who has revealed Himself under the threefold aspect 
of Father, Son, and Spirit, and who in each of these 
revelations maintains His underived and infinite 
Godhead or Deity. 

The name of God signifies either His Being or His 
authority. If it represents His Being, then the 
Being of the Spirit must be identical with that of 
the Father. If it signifies His authority, then the 
Spirit has the same authority with Him ; and He who 
has the name and authority of God, is God — is a 
Divine Person. 

THE SUBJECT OF BLASPHEMY 

Blasphemy ordinarily means profaning the name 
of God by speaking lightly, irreverently, or contemp- 
tuously of Him. But as speech is an index of what 
a man is at heart, and of what he thinks in his mind, 


THE SUBJECT OF BLASPHEMY 


31 


blasphemy sometimes refers to one’s action and char- 
acter as well as to his words. It is with some such 
significance as this that Jesus warns men regarding 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. He says: 
“All manner of sin and of blasphemy shall be for- 
given unto men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whoso- 
ever speaketh a word against the Son of man it shall 
be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against 
the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither 
in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matt. 
12: 31, 32). Now, the Holy Ghost must be a Person, 
or He could not be the subject of blasphemy ; He must 
also be a Divine Person, or blasphemy against Him 
could not be of such a malignant character as to 
exclude the person committing it from all hope of 
pardon, while the grant of forgiveness is not denied 
to any kind or degree of blasphemy against either 
the Father or the Son. 

As a Divine Person, therefore [says Dr. Richard Wat- 
son], our regards are justly due to Him as the object of wor- 
ship and trust, of prayer and blessing; duties to which we 
are especially called, both by the especial consideration of 
His divinity, and by the affectingly benevolent and at- 
tractive character under which He is presented to us in the 
whole Scriptures. 

In Creation we see Him moving upon the face of chaos, 
and reducing it to beautiful order; in Providence, “renew- 
ing the face of the earth,” “garnishing the heavens,” and 
“giving life” to men. In Grace, we behold Him expanding 
the prophetic scene to the vision of the seers of the Old 
Testament, and making a perfect revelation of Christ to the 
apostles of the New. He “reproves the world of sin,” and 
works secret conviction of its evil and danger in the heart. 
He is “the Spirit of grace and supplication;” the softened 


32 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A DIVINE PERSON 


heart, the yielding will, all heavenly desires and tendencies 
are from Him. He hastens to the troubled spirits of penitent 
men, who are led by His influence to Christ, and in whose 
hearts He has wrought faith, with the news of pardon, and 
“bears witness” of their sonship “with their spirit.” He aids 
their “infirmities;” “makes intercession for them;” inspires 
thoughts of consolation and feelings of peace; plants and 
perfects them in whatsoever things are pure, lovely, honest, 
and of good report ; delights in His own work in the renewed 
heart; dwells in the soul as in a temple; and, after having 
rendered the Spirit of God, “without spot, or wrinkle, or 
any such thing,” sanctified and meet for heaven, finishes His 
benevolent and glorious work by raising the bodies of the 
saints in immortal life at the last day. So powerfully does 
the Spirit of glory and of God claim our love, our praise and 
our obedience.* 

♦“Institutes,” Vol. II., pp. 640, 641. 


iv; 

NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

The Spirit of God is designated in the Scriptures 
by various names and titles. Some of these are sig- 
nificant of His Nature or Essence; some, of His Per- 
sonality ; some, of His relation to the Father and the 
Son; some, of His moral attributes; and others, of 
His relation to, and His operations in, the work of 
redemption. It will be an interesting and profitable 
employment to consider briefly some of these scrip- 
tural appellations, together with their peculiar sig- 
nifications. 


THE SPIRIT 

The name Spirit is the most common term applied 
to the third Person of the Godhead. It is intended 
to signify His Nature or Essence. It is granted that 
the Hebrew and Greek words translated Spirit sig- 
nify breath, wind, or that which moves invisibly. In 
the Old and New Testaments they are applied to a 
great variety of purposes, because of some general 
respects in which they agree. There is little diffi- 
culty, however, in determining their true sense from 
the connection in which they occur. Notwithstand- 
ing the ambiguity of the term in its Hebrew and 
Greek originals, it is sufficiently evident that the 
Scriptures furnish a full and complete revelation of 


33 


34 


NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


the Spirit of God as a substance every way distinct 
from everything else to which the name is applied; 
and that whatever is affirmed of Him relates either 
to His Person or His operations. Sometimes He is 
called “the Spirit” absolutely; sometimes “the Holy 
Spirit,” “the Spirit of God,” “the Spirit of Christ,” 
“the Good Spirit,” “the Free Spirit,” “the Spirit of 
Truth,” or “the Spirit of Holiness.” The name Spirit, 
in its absolute use, denotes His Person. The quali- 
fying terms employed respect His properties, and His 
relation to other persons. 

The name Spirit was not given originally, as some 
may suppose, in allusion to the wind ; for wind is an 
emblem only of the operations of the Person so 
called; but it was intended chiefly to denote His 
Being, or Substance, as purely spiritual or imma- 
terial. We read that “God is a Spirit” — that is, He 
is a pure spiritual Substance, not confined to place, 
nor regarding one locality above another. If it be 
said on this account, that the name is not peculiar 
to the third Person of the Trinity, but denotes the 
Divine nature in an abstract sense, the answer is: 
While it is not primarily characteristic of the third 
Person, it is peculiarly and constantly applied to Him 
in the Scriptures in a way which declares His special 
manner and order of existence , so that wherever the 
Holy Spirit is spoken of, His relation to the Father 
and the Son is included, since He is the Spirit of 
God. 

And herein there is an allusion to the breath of man 
[says Dr. Owen] ; for as the vital breath of man has a con- 
tinued emanation from him, and yet is never so utterly 
separated from him as to forsake him, so the Spirit of the 


THE HOLY SPIRIT 


35 


Father and the Son proceeds from them by a continual 
Divine emanation, still abiding one with them. Hence our 
Savior signified the communication of the Spirit to the dis- 
ciples by breathing on them. (John 20: 22.) These allusions, 
indeed, are weak and imperfect, wherein substantial things 
are compared with accidental, infinite with finite, and eternal 
with temporary; their disagreement is greater than their 
agreement, yet such allusions our weakness needs and gains 
instruction thereby.* 


THE HOLY SPIRIT 

The title Holy Spirit is of frequent occurrence in 
the Scriptures, especially in the New Testament. 
This appellation is given by way of eminence, to de- 
note the eternal, glorious holiness of His Nature, just 
as God the Father is called “the Holy One of Israel,” 
and is described as “glorious in holiness,” to denote 
this glorious property of His Being. The Spirit of 
God is called Holy also, and is described as “the 
Spirit of Holiness,” because it is by Him alone that 
men are sanctified and made holy. He communicates 
holiness to man by the regeneration and sanctifica- 
tion of his heart, making believers “partakers of the 
Divine nature,” “that we might be partakers of His 
holiness.” Sanctification, from its beginning to its 
consummation, is effected “by the Holy Ghost” (Horn. 
15 : 16). “God hath from the beginning chosen you to 
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and the 
belief of the truth” (2 Thess. 2: 13). As He is the 
Administrator of all God’s will on earth, He is ap- 
propriately styled the Holy Spirit also with respect 
to all His operations. 

♦Owen’s “Doctrine of the Holy Spirit,” p. 35. 


36 


NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


This third Person of the Trinity is also designated 
as “The Eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9: 14). The appella- 
tion denotes His eternal procession from the Father 
and the Son. He is in no sense a limited or finite 
Being. The measure of His existence is “from ever- 
lasting to everlasting.” He “inhabiteth eternity.” 

“A thousand ages in their flight, 

With Him are as a fleeting day ; 

Past, present, future, to His sight, 

At once their various scenes display.” 


THE GOOD SPIRIT 

The Scriptures also designate Him as the Good 
Spirit. The Psalmist sings: “Thy Spirit is good: 
lead me into the land of uprightness” (Psalm 143: 
10). Or, as a better rendering, “Thy good Spirit 
shall lead me,” etc. He is called the good Spirit be- 
cause His essential nature is goodness, or benevo- 
lence. “There is none good but One, that is, God” 
(Matt. 19:17). The Holy Spirit reveals and com- 
municates the riches of God’s goodness to us, and all 
His operations toward us and within us are full of 
excellence. And “the fruit of the Spirit is in all 
goodness, and righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5:9). 


THE FREE SPIRIT 

David prayed : “Uphold me with thy Free Spirit” 
(Psalm 51 : 12). The Spirit of God is called a “free 
Spirit” because He is free and unrestrained in Him- 
self, and, in His operations, He is like the wind that 
“bloweth where it listeth” (John 3:8). He is free 


SPIRIT OF GOD, SPIRIT OF THE LORD 3 7 

from all that is ignoble and servile, and is princely 
and royal in His character. The expression, “free 
Spirit,” we are told, might be translated “noble, or 
princely Spirit,” with eminent propriety. 

The Spirit of God is not only free and independent 
Himself, but His mission is to make men free. “The 
law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus,” said Paul, 
“hath made me free from the law of sin and death” 
(Rom. 8:2). Christ paid the ransom for the captives 
of sin and Satan, and the Holy Spirit actually eman- 
cipates them from their bondage. He breaks the fet- 
ters of the captive soul, brings him forth from his 
prison-house, and causes him to sing and shout for 
joy. He delivers the soul from “the gall of bitter- 
ness and the bond of iniquity,” “into the glorious 
liberty of the sons of God.” The Spirit of God is a 
Free Spirit, and they who “walk in the Spirit” walk 
in glorious and perfect freedom. “Now the Lord is 
that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, 
there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3: 17). 


SPIRIT OF GOD, SPIRIT OF THE LORD, ETC. 

The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of God, 
the Spirit of the Lord, etc. “The Spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). “The 
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,” etc. (Isa. 61 : 1). 
In the account of the creation the Hebrew name 
Elohim, which is a plural term, is used to represent 
the Creator, probably with the design of indicating 
a distinction of persons in the Godhead. “In the be- 
ginning God [ Elohim ] created the heaven and the 
earth” (Gen. 1:1). “And the Spirit of God [Elo- 

4 


38 


NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


him] moved upon the face of the waters” (Ver. 2). 
The name Jehovah is mentioned in Chapter 2 : 4, but 
Elohim is joined with it; so the former name is not 
used in the account of the creation, because it re- 
spects only the unity of the Divine Essence or 
Nature. Now the third Person is called the Spirit of 
God because of His eternal procession or emanation 
from the everlasting Father, even as Christ is called 
the Son of God because of His eternal generation. 

THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST 

He is also designated, and originally on the same 
account, as the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of the 
Son. The terms “Spirit of God” and “Spirit of 
Christ” are used interchangeably, sometimes in the 
same passage, as follows: “Ye are not in the flesh, 
but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in 
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ , 
he is none of His” (Kom. 8 : 9-11). The Spirit of God 
and the Spirit of Christ are here considered as one 
and the same. In writing to the Galatians St. Paul 
says : “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the 
Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, 
Father” (Chap. 4:6). From these Scriptures it ap- 
pears that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son 
in precisely the same sense that He is the Spirit of 
God the Father. 

It may be urged by some that He is the Spirit of 
Christ only because sent by Christ to supplement 
His mediation and render it effectual in believers; 
but this could not be, unless He had antecedently 
been the Spirit of the Son. St. Peter affirms that 


THE SPIRIT OP CHRIST 


39 


the Spirit of Christ was in the prophets who fore- 
told “the sufferings of Christ and the glory that 
should follow” (1 Pet. 1: 10, 11). Nor does this re- 
fer to His being anointed with the Spirit, for His 
human nature, which was the subject of this anoint- 
ing, did not then exist. 

The chief and formal reason why the Holy Spirit is called 
“the Spirit of the Son” and “the Spirit of Christ” [wisely 
remarks Dr. Owen], is because of His procession or emana- 
tion from His Person also, without respect to which He could 
not properly be called the Spirit of Christ ; but on that sup- 
position He may be, He is, so denominated.* 

The title “the Comforter” is not considered in this 
connection, but is reserved for more detailed treat- 
ment in subsequent chapters. The foregoing are 
some of the names and titles whereby the nature and 
subsistence of that Divine Agent whose ministry we 
are considering are declared. Numerous other titles 
are applied to Him in the Word of God, chiefly to 
denote His offices and operations in the application 
of redemption to the hearts of believers. These will 
demand and receive consideration under other de- 
partments of this work, and hence need not be spe- 
cially treated here. 

Glory be to God the Father, 

Glory be to Christ the Son ; 

Glory to the Holy Spirit, 

Glory to the Three in One. 

♦“Doctrine of the Holy Spirit,” p. 38. 


V 


EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

In revealing Himself to man God always accommo- 
dates Himself to human weakness and to our limited 
capacity for comprehending that which is purely 
spiritual. When He would make known to us the 
sublime mysteries of the spiritual world, “He must 
illustrate His meaning by the fragments of light 
and beauty which are scattered on the higher side 
of our own inferior world.” Hence He speaks in 
parables, teaches by symbolical representation, and 
illustrates spiritual truths by natural emblems, there- 
by accommodating Himself to our limited and im- 
perfect understanding, in His ministry of revelation. 

The nature and ministry of the Holy Spirit are sub- 
jects for the revelation of which this method is both 
suitable and necessary, and for which it is wisely and 
extensively employed in the Scriptures. How else 
could things of so abstruse and mysterious a char- 
acter be brought within the range of human appre- 
hension? All the concerns of the Holy Spirit are 
eminently “the deep things of God,” and are in their 
nature heavenly, and far remote from everything 
that the heart of man, in the mere exercise of reason, 
is able to conceive. Accordingly His nature and 
operations are set forth in the Scriptures, under 
various and impressive emblems, some of which it 


40 


WATER 


41 


will be both interesting and profitable for us now to 
consider. In pursuing this study let it constantly 
be borne in mind, that, when God declares His virtue 
by any sensible object, there is always some impor- 
tant relation between the sign and the thing signified. 
See John 3:8. 


WATER 

One of the commonest Scripture emblems of the 
Holy Spirit is water. “In the last day, that great 
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If 
any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He 
that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out 
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But 
this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe 
on Him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not 
yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” 
(John 7:37-39). In like manner God declared by 
one of the Old Testament seers, concerning the latter- 
day glory: “I will pour water upon him that is 
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ; I will pour 
My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine 
offspring” (Isa. 44 : 3) . 

Water is cleansing, fertilizing, refreshing, abun- 
dant, free, indispensable to life, satisfying to the 
thirsty; and, as it pursues its course in numberless 
streams and rivers, or descends from the clouds in 
copious showers, it makes glad the waste places of 
the earth, and distributes manifold blessings on every 
hand. In all these respects it is a fitting emblem of 
the gracious gift and ministry of the Holy Spirit to 
them who are the heirs of salvation. Is not this 


42 


EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


V 


what w r as signified by Ezekiel’s vision of the holy 
waters (Ezekiel 47 : 1*12) issuing out of the temple 
from beneath the altar, increasing in depth and 
breadth in their onward flow, until they became 
“waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed 
over,” and which carried with them healing, and 
life, and abundant fruitfulness whithersoever they 
went? “Rivers of living water!” He that drinketh 
of this water shall never thirst; but it shall be in 
him a well of water springing up into everlasting 
life. (John 4:14.) How beautiful an emblem of 
the Holy Spirit and of the grace which He imparts! 


RAIN 

Closely related to the foregoing emblem, but deserv- 
ing of special consideration, the Holy Spirit is repre- 
sented under the symbol of rain. “Be glad then, ye 
children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: 
for He hath given you the former rain moderately 
[the marginal reading is, “He hath given you a 
teacher of righteousness ”] and He will cause to 
come down for you the rain, the former rain and the 
latter rain in the first month,” etc. (Joel 2 : 23). 

The context will show that this language was ut- 
tered in immediate connection with Joel’s prophecy 
concerning that glorious and full effusion of the 
Spirit, the first instalment of which was given on the 
day of Pentecost. As the rain descends, filling the 
pools, causing the earth to bring forth, and bud, and 
bringing on the golden harvest, it is an apt and 
beautiful emblem of the refreshing, life-giving, fructi- 


WIND 


43 


fying, and maturing influences of the Spirit of God, 
as He descends in the plenitude of His gracious mani- 
festations and operations upon the Church of Christ. 

“The former rain and the latter rain” are promised 
in the foregoing prophecy. In Palestine “the former 
rain” falls about the latter part of October, which is 
the seed-time of that country. “The latter rain” falls 
in the month of April, after which the weather be- 
comes serene, and the crops ripen. Between the sea- 
sons of the “early” and the “latter” rains the weather 
is variable, more or less rain falling during the entire 
winter. The wheat harvest takes place in May. By 
the middle of August the fruits are all gathered; 
and from that time until the early, or October rains, 
prevail the scorching heats and droughts of summer. 
What expressive emblems of spiritual blessing are 
the abundant showers of rain after this trying sea- 
son is past ! The day of Pentecost witnessed the de- 
scent of the Holy Spirit as “the early rain,” but His 
manifestation as “the latter rain” which is to usher 
in the happy harvest time of the world’s redemption, 
is yet to be realized. He who has given us “the 
former rain moderately,” will also send us in abun- 
dance “the latter rain in its season.” 


WIND 

The Scriptures also speak of the Holy Spirit under 
the similitude of wind. “The wind bloweth where it 
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst 
not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is 
every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). 


44 


EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


The ministry of the Holy Ghost, like the movement 
of the wind, is independent and incomprehensible. 
One of the sensible miracles which attended the de- 
scent of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was “a 
sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind” 
(Acts 2:2). The Holy Spirit seemed to be in haste 
to come down from heaven and testify to the glori- 
fication of Christ. He came with a suddenness that 
surprised those of most lively faith. It is significant 
also that the symbol of His advent was “a sound as 
of a rushing mighty wind f’ a sound as of a hurricane 
or tornado. The wind is subtle and unseen, mysteri- 
ous and mighty. We can not foresee its coming, nor 
can we tell from what quarter it will blow. As it 
rushes on vehemently and irresistibly, sweeping 
everything before it, filling every vacuum, and cease- 
lessly accomplishing its work, it is a striking symbol 
of the power, omnipresence, activity, and energy of 
the Holy Ghost, in the ministry He performs in the 
work of redemption. The same symbol is used by the 
prophet Ezekiel. When standing among the dry 
bones in the valley of vision, he cried: “Come from 
the four winds, O Breath, and breathe upon these 
slain, that they may live” (Chapter 37:9). And as 
the wind came at the prophet’s bidding, in the valley 
of the vision of death, and “the dead stood up an ex- 
ceeding great army,” so comes the Spirit of the Blessed 
to breathe immortal life and perfect peace into the 
burdened and longing souls of men. And as the 
rushing wind enters and fills every vacuum, so the 
Holy Spirit, poured out from on high, enters and 
fills every heart emptied of self and sin, and there 
abides in the plenitude of His gracious operations. 


FIRE 


45 


FIRE 

Another common and significant emblem of the 
Holy Spirit is fire. John the Baptist repeatedly 
designated Christ as He that should ‘‘baptize with 
the Holy Ghost and fire.” Accordingly the baptism 
of the Holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost ac- 
companied with a fiery manifestation. “There ap- 
peared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire , and 
it sat upon each of them” (Acts 2:3). Fire is il- 
luminating, cheering, refining, purifying, searching, 
consuming. How apt and suggestive a symbol of the 
Holy Ghost, who enlightens us in spiritual things, 
inspires our hearts with heavenly comfort; refines 
and purifies our natures; searches out and reveals 
“the deep things of God;” and consumes the dross 
from our hearts, leaving only the pure gold of Christ- 
like character and grace! 

Fire may also be considered as symbolizing the 
ardor of the Holy Spirit, and the holy enthusiasm in- 
spired in every heart and in every Church baptized 
with the Holy Ghost. “Consider the beautifulness 
of the consistency which combines a sensation of 
ardor with a Gospel of love. Fire indicates the point 
at which love reaches enthusiasm. A Church without 
fire is a Church without enthusiasm, and consequent- 
ly without adequate credentials and authority.” 

In 1 Thess. 5 : 19, we are admonished to “Quench 
not the Spirit.” Here also the Spirit is represented 
under the emblem of fire. The intimate relation be- 
tween the Spirit and the Word of God indicates how 
He may be quenched. The Word of God is the fuel 
on which this fire feeds. Indifference to the Word, 


46 


EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


therefore, is a certain means of quenching this Divine 
fire in the soul. Hence, after the admonition, “Quench 
not the Spirit,” the apostle cautions us, in the next 
verse, to “Despise not prophesyings.” And again we 
read : “Is not my Word like as a fire? saith the Lord” 
(Jeremiah 23:29). 

Mr. Fletcher in a letter to Mr. Ireland, once wrote 
as follows : “An over-eager attention to the doctrine 
of the Spirit has made me, in some degree, overlook 
the, medium by which the Spirit works, I mean the 
Word of Truth , which is the wood by which the 
heavenly fire warms us. I rather expected lightning, 
than a steady fire by means of fuel. I mention my 
error to you, lest you too should be involved therein. 
May the Lord help us to steer clear of every rock.” 

OIL 

No other emblem employed in the Scriptures to 
represent the Holy Spirit is more beautifully appro- 
priate to its design than that of oil. Soothing, heal- 
ing, quieting, beautifying, consecrating, it admirably 
symbolizes the virtue of the Divine Comforter as 
realized in the hearts of all to whom He is given. The 
Spirit was poured upon the Lord Jesus like an effu- 
sion of excellent oil, anointing Him for His ministry 
as our Mediator and Redeemer, and that, through 
His mediation, a like anointing might be secured to 
all who should believe on Him as their Savior. Long 
before His advent as the Messiah, He spake by the 
prophet Isaiah, saying : “The Spirit of the Lord God 
is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to 
preach good tidings unto the meek, He hath sent 


OIL 


4 7 


me to bind up the broken-hearted, to preach deliver- 
ance to the captives,” etc. (Chapter 61:2, etc.). 
And when, at length, He came and had entered upon 
His public ministry, His first discourse was concern- 
ing this very prophecy. The scriptural account is 
as follows: 

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought 
up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue 
on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there 
was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. 
And when He had opened the book, He found the place where 
it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because 
He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor ; He 
hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliver- 
ance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, 
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the accepta- 
ble year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave 
it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all 
them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. 
And He began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture 
fulfilled in your ears. And all bare Him witness, and won- 
dered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His 
mouth. 

It was said of Jesus, also, because of His redeem- 
ing work: “Therefore God, even Thy God, hath 
anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fel- 
lows” (Heb. 1:9). Christ received this Divine 
anointing in a preeminent degree; but the same 
Spirit, as a holy anointing, an abiding unction, is 
also promised to all who believe in the Son of God. 
“Now He which established us with you, and hath 
anointed us, is God; who also hath sealed us, and 
given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” 
(2 Cor. 1 : 21, 22). “But the anointing which ye have 


48 


EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that 
any man teach you” (1 John 2: 27). 


THE DOVE 

Another beautiful emblem of the Holy Spirit is 
the dove. “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went 
up straightway out of the water : and, lo, the heavens 
were opened unto Him, and he [John] saw the Spirit 
of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
Him” (Matt. 3 : 16). “And John bare record saying, I 
saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, 
and it abode upon Him” (John 1:32). From other 
Scriptures we learn that the dove is the symbol of sim- 
plicity, innocence, gentleness, love, and fidelity. See 
Hos. 7:11; Matt. 10 : 16 ; with Gen. 8:8. A dove was 
the returning harbinger of God’s favor after the del- 
uge; and even so the dove-like Spirit of God comes 
to the heart of every believer, bringing the peaceful, 
comforting assurance of his acceptance in Christ. 
The Spirit of God is never presented to us in char- 
acters of terror, but always as a Being of infinite ten- 
derness, gentleness, and sensibility. “It is remarka- 
ble,” as McCheyne has suggested, “that, although we 
read of the wrath of God the Father, and of the 
wrath of the Lamb, we nowhere read of the wrath of 
the Holy Ghost. He is said to be grieved, but never 
to be angry. It has also been said, ‘If Christ is 
called the Head of the Church, well may the Spirit 
be called the heart of the Church.’ ” May the dove- 
like Spirit, the Holy Ghost, communicate His amiable 
virtues to every member of the Church of Christ. 


A SEAL 


49 


A SEAL 

In the New Testament we find such expressions as 
the following: “Who also hath sealed us.” “In whom 
also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that 
Holy Spirit of promise.” “Grieve not the Holy Spirit 
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of re- 
demption.” The process of sealing, as employed 
among men, involves four things : First, the idea of 
impression. It is the communication of the char- 
acter or image that is on the seal to the object sealed. 
Secondly, the idea of security . The seal gives se- 
curity to the performance of deeds, wills, contracts, 
etc. In the third place, the seal is the token of pos- 
session and preservation. Men put their seal upon 
valuable articles in their possession to indicate and 
prove their ownership of the same ; and certain trea- 
sures and valuable possessions are sealed up that they 
may be kept safe and inviolable. A fourth object 
of sealing is that of authentication. The impress of 
the royal seal on any document gives it the sanction 
of the Government; and the transfer of the royal 
seal from the Sovereign or State officer to another 
person, was, in ancient time, to invest that person 
with plenary authority for the occasion. 

In all these respects there is an analogy to the 
work of the Spirit in the sealing of believers. For 
in this sealing process the Holy Ghost communicates 
His own image to the soul ; dwells in the believer as 
the seal of the new covenant — a security for the ful- 
filment of all its promises; — marks him as God’s 
peculiar treasure to be preserved inviolable unto the 
day of redemption ; gives to him the royal sanction ; 


50 


EMBLEMS OP THE HOLY SPIRIT 


and fully authorizes and empowers him for all the 
duties and functions of the “royal priesthood” to 
which he belongs. 

It is more particularly in this latter sense that 
the seal is an emblem of the Holy Spirit, or that the 
Spirit is said to be the seal of believers. It should 
be remembered that it is God the Father who seals 
us, and that the Holy Ghost is the seal. The gift of 
the Spirit as an indwelling Comforter and Sanctifier 
is God’s seal unto us. Our sealing is in Christ, and 
is of the same character as that with which He was 
sealed. “For Him hath God the Father sealed” 
(John 6: 27). “In whom also after that ye believed, 
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” 
(Eph. 1 : 13) . The sealing of Christ was the measure- 
less communication of the Holy Spirit unto Him, 
authorizing Him unto and preparing Him for the 
duties of His mediatorial office, and demonstrating 
to the world God’s presence with Him and His appro- 
bation of Him. He was “justified in the Spirit” (1 
Tim. 1:16). So God’s sealing of believers is His 
gracious communication of the Spirit to them as a 
qualification for all the responsibilities of their holy 
calling, and a demonstration to themselves and others 
of their acceptance with Him. Blessed, indeed, are 
they who know the Holy Ghost as the seal of God 
upon their hearts ! 


TONGUES OF FIRE 

The Holy Ghost was manifested at Pentecost under 
the symbol of cloven tongues. “There appeared unto 


TONGUES OF FIRE 


51 


them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon 
each of them” (Acts 2: 3). 

The tongue is the organ of speech or language, and, 
as an emblem of the Holy Spirit may be considered 
as signifying inspired utterance . There is an out- 
going power resulting from the indwelling of the 
Holy Ghost, a readiness and ability to declare what 
He hath wrought in the soul, indicating, as Dr. 
Joseph Parker suggests, that what every man re- 
ceives of the Divine unction and power, he holds for 
the benefit of others, as well as for the comfort and 
edification of his own soul. The appearance of 
u cloven tongues” would seem to be significant of the 
diversity of languages in which the Gospel was au- 
thorized to be preached from that day. “At the build- 
ing of Babel the language of the people was confound- 
ed,” says Dr. Adam Clarke; “and, in consequence of 
this, they became scattered over the face of the 
earth ; at this foundation of the Christian Church the 
gift of various languages was given to the apostles, 
that the scattered nations might be gathered, and 
united under one Shepherd and Superintendent of 
all souls.”* 

Moses once exclaimed: “Would God that all the 
Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would 
put His Spirit upon them” (Num. 11:29). And Joel 
prophesied of an outpouring of the Spirit “upon all 
flesh,” under which the “sons” and the “daughters,” 
the “servants” and the “handmaidens,” should 
“prophesy” (Joel 2:28, 29). The realization of that 
for which Moses wished and of which Joel prophe- 
sied, was experienced at Pentecost, when the dis- 

♦“Commentary.” 


5 2 


EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


ciples “were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began 
to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 
utterance.’’ It is also the privilege of the Church 
to realize the same to-day. He who is baptized with 
the Holy Ghost will speak with another tongue — will 
have a new language! Under the inspiration and 
power of the Spirit the Gospel is now preached in 
nearly all the languages of the world, and wherever 
it is preached by men who have experienced the sanc- 
tification and joy of this pentecostal baptism, it be- 
comes a power to make men’s hearts burn within 
them, and the means of bringing light, and life, 
and salvation to all who receive it reverently and 
with faith. Significant of these glorious effects which 
were to follow, the Holy Ghost appeared at Pente- 
cost, under the symbol of cloven tongues of fire. 


VI 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

God has been pleased to carry on His work in Re- 
demption, as in Creation, by a gradual and progres- 
sive method. Through six successive stages of de- 
velopment the work of Creation was brought to that 
perfect consummation, in which the Divine Creator, 
beholding all that He had made, pronounced it “very 
good.” Even so there have been great and successive 
epochs or crises in the working out of Redemption, 
and in God’s progressive revelation of Himself and 
of His will to the human family. 


REVELATION OF TRUTH PROGRESSIVE 

The truths and purpose of God are in themselves incapable 
of progress ; but not the revelation of those truths. In na- 
ture, the rising sun scatters the mists of the morning, and 
brings out into light first one prominence and then another, 
till every hill and valley is clothed in splendor. The land- 
scape was there before, but it was not seen. So in Revela- 
tion, the progress is not in the truth, but in the clearness 
and impressiveness with which Scripture reveals it. 

This gradual and progressive method in Redemption has a 
remarkable illustration in those Scriptures which relate 
to our Lord and Savior. At first a single promise was made 
in Eden, which contained a prediction of mercy, and fore- 
told, in terms mysterious, the advent and mission of the 
world’s Redeemer, (Gen. 3: 15.) Then the first act of ac- 
5 


53 


54 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


ceptable worship was a typical recognition of the atonement, 
and an expression of faith in the fulfilment of the first 
prophetic promise. ( Gen. 4:4; Heb. 11 : 4. ) With the lapse 
of time the promises and types are multiplied. In the 
biographies of the patriarchs, Enoch, Noah, Job, Melchize- 
dek, and particularly in the lives of Abraham and his im- 
mediate descendants, there is a constant augmentation of 
type and prophecy, all pointing to Christ and His atoning 
sacrifice. Then the Mosaic age succeeded, in which a multi- 
tude of other typical persons, places, objects, rites, and in- 
stitutions were introduced, and the law defining and ex- 
plaining them was given. Next, came the prophetic age. 
Between the days of Samuel and Malachi — a period approx- 
imating seven hundred years — a succession of prophets ap- 
pear, who gradually set forth the character and mission of 
the Messiah, foretell the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon 
the world and the universal spread and final triumph of the 
Gospel, and declare the final and glorious consummation of 
Redemption as it shall issue in the world’s millennial glory. 
In all these successive revelations the bounds of the first 
promise have not been exceeded ; but its meaning has been 
more clearly unfolded, and the nature of the Redeemer’s 
work disclosed in a more complete and detailed manner. 
In these respects “the law and the prophets” were superior 
to the typical or shadowy revelations of the patriarchal age, 
and more fully prepared the way for the final manifesta- 
tion of the promised “seed of the woman.” In these respects 
also the Gospel surpasses “the law and the prophets” as 
greatly as they exceeded the obscure promise made to the 
fallen pair in Eden.* 


DISPENSATIONS 

This gradual and progressive unfolding and de- 
velopment of God’s purpose in Eedemption is some- 
times spoken of as dispensational ; or, as character- 
ized by great and successive epochs, which are com- 

* Angus’ “Handbook of the Bible,” pp. 151, 152. 


DISPENSATIONS 


55 


monly termed dispensations.. Some writers divide 
the history of redemption into three, some into four, 
and others into seven distinct eras or dispensations, 
just as the history of the world is variously arranged, 
as to its principal epochs, by different historians. 

It best serves the purpose of the present writing 
to consider only those three great dispensations of 
grace to which reference has been made in a pre- 
ceding chapter, and which correspond to and are 
respectively presided over by the three Persons of the 
Godhead. 

John Fletcher, in his Portraiture of St. Paul as a 
Model Pastor, lays great emphasis on the importance 
of a thorough knowledge of these three great eras 
of spiritual life which he denominates the dispensa- 
tions of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; 
since without it the servants of God can not success- 
fully apply Gospel truth, or make full proof of their 
ministry. 

Through all the ages of religious history, as we 
have already shown, there has been a progressive 
movement toward spirituality. The trend of inspired 
thought in each successive dispensation has been 
toward the epoch of the Spirit, as the culminating 
era of revealed religion. The three great dispensa- 
tions of grace, though successive in the order of de- 
velopment, are as inseparably connected as are the 
different hues of the rainbow ; and, under the pres- 
ent economy, they are coexistent. The ideal Chris- 
tian, according to the New Testament, is one who, in 
personal experience, has passed through the dispen- 
sations of the Father and the Son, into the dispensa- 
tion of the Holy Ghost ; and in whom the great funda- 


56 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


mental truths and principles of all the dispensations 
meet, and blend, and coexist with sanctifying influ- 
ence. Of those now living on the earth, and who are 
accepted of God, some are living, experimentally, in 
the dispensation of the Father, some in the dispensa- 
tion of the Son, and others in the dispensation of the 
Holy Spirit, according to the different progress they 
have made in spiritual things. 

If this threefold distinction were better under- 
stood among Christian people, it would tend to pro- 
mote the exercise of charity toward the less enlight- 
ened subjects of God’s kingdom, and would furnish 
an effectual motive for the abatement of bigotry. A 
clear perception of this among Christian ministers 
would also enable them rightly to distinguish the 
various classes composing the mixed assemblies to 
whom they minister, and so to understand their 
various attainments as “rightly to divide the Word 
of truth” to all. See Fletcher’s Portraiture of St. 
Paul. 


THE DISPENSATION OF THE FATHER 

The dispensation of the Father is chiefly dis- 
tinguished as a dispensation of Law. It reached its 
climax at Mt. Sinai, where the Law was given, and 
is promulgated from that point. The giving of the 
Law was attended with phenomena which impressed 
the multitudes of Israel, and even Moses himself, who 
was chosen to be the mediator of that covenant, with 
deepest awe and terror. “There were thunders, and 
lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and 
the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud : so that all 


DISPENSATION OP THE FATHER 


57 


the people that were in the camp trembled. And 
Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to 
meet with God: and they stood at the nether part 
of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on 
a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire : 
and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a 
furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And 
when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and 
waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God an- 
swered him by a voice” (Exod. 19 : 16-19). 

The state of mind produced by these phenomena 
was typical of that which characterizes those who 
serve God under the dispensation of the Father. 
Fear is the motive which chiefly influences their con- 
duct and shapes their characters. They “fear God 
and work righteousness.” Their obedience is 
prompted by fear rather than by filial love. They are 
void of the settled peace which is provided for them 
in the Gospel, and know little or nothing of “joy in 
the Holy Ghost.” They are often in doubt of their 
acceptance with God, and at times are distressed at 
the terrible threatenings of the Divine Law. Still 
they are kept from voluntary sin, and are incited 
to obedience and well-doing. 

This class of persons exists in all lands, but chiefly 
in non-evangelical countries, Papal, Pagan, and Mo- 
hammedan. As Fletcher says, “Now and then an 
honest Deist, or a devout Unitarian, with the head 
warped by early implanted error, but a sincere heart, 
may be found amid the full blaze of Gospel truth, still 
serving God in the same dispensation with uncircum- 
cised Abraham in Mesopotamia.” 

These we are bound to recognize as standing in 


58 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


the Divine favor, though serving in a spirit and man- 
ner characteristic of an inferior dispensation. For 
“God is no respecter of persons : but in every nation 
he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is 
accepted with Him” (Acts 10 : 34, 35). 

DISPENSATION OF THE SON 

The dispensation of the Son is a dispensation of 
Reconciliation . It reached its culmination on Cal- 
vary, when “Christ our passover [was] sacrificed for 
us and from that point it is promulgated through- 
out the world. Christ is the “Mediator between God 
and men, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be 
testified in due time.” We are “reconciled to God 
through the death of His Son.” “Being justified by 
faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ.” Those who are under this dispensation no 
longer cry out, in their bondage : “O wretched man 
that I am ! Who shall deliver me from this body of 
death?” But, grateful for, and exulting in, their 
accomplished deliverance, they exclaim: “Glory to 
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
toward men ;” or, with victorious Paul, “I thank God, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

“Under the dispensation of the Son,” says Mr. 
Fletcher, “the doubts of believers are dissipated, like 
those of the two disciples who journeyed to Emmaus, 
while they discover more clearly, and experience 
more powerfully, the truths of the Gospel.” The 
love of God now enters their hearts and becomes a 
motive to obedience and service. Those who are rec- 
onciled to God adopt the language of St. John, “We 


DISPENSATION OF THE SON 


59 


love Him because He first loved us.” Under the dis- 
pensation of the Father they constantly experienced 
the fear of God, and were influenced by fear in a 
much greater degree than by love. Under the econ- 
omy of reconciliation love predominates over fear, as 
a motive to obedience, though the love they experi- 
ence is still mixed with that fear which character- 
izes those who live under the dispensation of the 
Father. In this state they are yet in a measure 
“carnal”« — knowing Christ “after the flesh,” rather 
than after “the power of His resurrection.” Such 
were the Corinthian Christians, to whom St. Paul 
found it necessary to write : “And I, brethren, could 
not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto car- 
nal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you 
with milk, and not with meat : for hitherto ye were 
not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” 

They are not fully impressed with the divinity of Christ. 
The robe of His humanity has not been made transparent 
for the dazzling radiance of the Godhead to shine through. 
Jesus is not yet glorified to their hearts, because the Spirit, 
the Glorifier, has not taken up His abode in them. Hence 
they are but children ; their strength is small ; they are weak 
and unsteady. They have not full assurance. After brief 
periods of joyful trust, doubts return to shake their confi- 
dence. Yet they testify of their love to God gaining 
ascendency over fear.* 

In this state they are conscious of an inward neces- 
sity and longing for something which they can not 
find words to define or express, but to meet and sup- 
ply which the special ministry of the Comforter is 
promised by our Lord. In those Scriptures which 
disclose the gift of the indwelling Comforter as their 

♦Dr. Steele on “The Three Dispensations.” 


6o 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


blood-bought heritage, and as their present privilege 
to possess and enjoy, they discover that higher spiri- 
tual realm , which Mr. Fletcher designates as “the 
Kingdom of the Holy Ghost.” 

DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT 

While the dispensation of the Father is a dispensa- 
tion of Law, and that of the Son an economy of Recon- 
ciliation, the dispensation of the Holy Ghost is chief- 
ly distinguished as a dispensation of Sanctifying 
Power. This grand spiritual era was inaugurated on 
the ever-memorable day of Pentecost, and the New 
Law of light and life which it dispenses is promul- 
gated from that point. The earlier economies were 
preparatory to this ; and the culmination of the three 
dispensations brings in that completed revelation 
of Divine truth, and that full unfolding of the Divine 
character, which result in a new and superior era of 
spiritual light and life. 

Those who live experimentally in the dispensation 
of the Holy Ghost are all “filled with the Spirit.” 
They “walk in the light as God is in the light,” and 
enjoy conscious “fellowship with the Father and with 
His Son Jesus Christ.” “The blood of Jesus Christ 
His Son cleanseth [them] from all [inward as well 
as outward] sin.” The Spirit of adoption now dwells 
in them as an abiding Comforter ; whereas His testi- 
mony was formerly to some extent indirect and inter- 
mittent. And to the direct assurance of sonship with 
God, He now adds the assurance of inward and com- 
plete sanctification. “For by one offering He hath 
perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof 


DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT 6l, 

the Holy Ghost also is a witness unto us” (Heb. 
10: 14, 15). 

“Fear, which had a painful predominence in the 
dispensation of the Father, and shadowed the bright- 
ness of the Sun of Righteousness in the dispensation 
of Jesus Christ, is now completely banished.” Love 
takes the throne, and, swaying its mild but mighty 
sceptre, bids sin, and fear, and grief depart, and 
inaugurates within the heart a “kingdom of right- 
eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” 
With the Holy Ghost as our indwelling Comforter, 
our salvation is no longer God manifested in an out- 
ward and visible Christ, but God manifested as 
“Christ in [us], the hope of glory.” “Herein is our 
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the 
day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this 
world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love 
casteth out fear : because fear hath torment. He that 
feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4 : 17, 18) . 

The dispensation of the Spirit, in its full experi- 
mental import, is a reign of “Perfect Love.” “No tor- 
menting emotion can abide the presence of the Com- 
forter.” Under this glorious economy “the peace of 
God that passeth all understanding keeps the heart 
and mind, through Christ Jesus;” and the soul is 
enabled to “rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, 
and in everything give thanks.” 

What was St. Paul’s privilege, in this matter of 
inward assurance concerning his heavenly inheri- 
tance and meetness for it, is the privilege of every 
believer in Jesus Christ. It is not the will of God 
that any of His children should be in doubt or uncer- 
tainty concerning spiritual and heavenly things. His 


62 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


will is that every one should dwell in the cloudless 
light of “full assurance,” — that all should rejoice in 
the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in 
the face of Jesus Christ.” To this very end the in- 
dwelling Comforter is given, that He may reveal in 
our consciousness “the deep things of God” — the 
foretaste of eternal life and glory. And the great' 
need of the world to-day is, men and women so bap- 
tized and filled with the Holy Ghost that they can 
preach and testify with certainty — that they can, 
with joyous confidence, publish what they experimen- 
tally know of Christ and of His power to save. The 
“unction from the Holy One” imparts this knowledge 
of spiritual things to all on whom it is bestowed. 
(1 John 2: 20.) 


VII 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT— Continued 

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 

It may be objected [says Dr. Steele] that this view of 
the successive gradation of privilege under the three Per- 
sons of the Godhead has a tendency to degrade the Father 
before the brighter glories of the Son’s kingdom, and to 
belittle the Son in the ministration of the Spirit. But a little 
examination of experience, Church history, and the Scrip- 
tures, will obviate this objection. They who are brought to 
the cross of Christ testify to a new and profound apprecia- 
tion of the work of the Father; while all who enter into 
the dispensation of the Spirit bear witness that Christ is, in 
an astonishing manner, exalted in their estimation. In 
all ages of the Church we look for the highest spirituality 
and purity, and the most devout reverence towards the 
Father, where Jesus Christ has been exalted, and for the 
most ardent love to Christ where this item of the creed has 
been emphasized and explained — “I believe in the Holy 
Ghost.” Turning to the Scriptures, we find the highest honor 
accruing to the Father is when men honor His Son. “To 
Him shall every knee bow, to the glory of God the Father .” 
But Jesus is not fully known till the Spirit shows Him to 
our hearts, and glorifies Him. No man can call Jesus Lord, 
l>ut "by the Holy Ghost. 

Thus each brightening dispensation reflects honor upon 
the Divine Person of the preceding, demonstrating that 
the Divine Persons are not independent and rival deities, 
but one in nature and essence, whose different perfections 
are more clearly manifested to a world of sinners by this 
threefold development. 


63 


6 4 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


A PRINCIPLE COMMON TO THE DISPENSATIONS 

In each successive dispensation the spirituality of 
the Church has been conditioned upon its firm belief 
of, and its practical adherence to, the principal truth 
or doctrine for the revelation and propagation of 
which that particular economy was inaugurated. 
Apostasy always begins with neglecting or ignoring 
the principal truth revealed and emphasized by the 
dispensation under which it occurs. The earlier 
apostasy of the Jewish church consisted in ignoring 
the Unity of God and embracing polytheism and idol- 
atry. Their final apostasy was occasioned by their 
rejection of the Messiah, and resulted in the entire 
destruction of their civil and religious polity. Under 
the present economy apostasy necessarily has its be- 
ginning in despising the Person and rejecting the min- 
istry of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Agent to whom 
all the affairs pertaining to our reconciliation with 
God have been committed. 

From the beginning of the world [says Dr. Owen], the 
principal revelation that God made of Himself, was the Unity 
of His nature and His sovereignty over all ; and herein the 
Person of the Father was immediately represented, with 
His power and authority. In this state of things the only 
apostasy of the Church could be polytheism and idolatry. 
Accordingly, the people of Israel were continually prone to 
these abominations ; and were continually punished for them. 
At length God put an end to their idolatry by their total 
desolation and captivity in Babylon. (Ezek. 16 :62 ; 23 :27, 28.) 
Again they were tried with a new dispensation. The Son 
of God was sent to them in the flesh. To receive and obey 
Him was now to be the principal instance and trial of their 
faith. Here, also, the greater part of that Church and peo- 
ple fell by their unbelief — apostatized from God, and became 


DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT A CULMINATION 65 

neither Church nor people. (John 8:24.) The Jews being 
rejected, the Son of God calls and gathers another Church, 
founding it in His own Person, with faith and the profession 
of it therein. ( Matt. 16 : 18, 19. ) In this new Church this 
foundation is fixed — that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is 
to be honored even as we honor the Father ; and herein all 
w T ho are duly called Christians agree. But now, Christ, 
being ascended to the Father, has committed all His affairs 
in the Church and in the world to the Holy Spirit (John 
16:7, etc.) ; and with this design — that the Person of the 
Spirit may be singularly exalted in the Church. Where- 
fore the duty of the Church now, immediately respects the 
Spirit of God, who acts toward it in the name of the Father 
and the Son. And with respect to Him it is, that the Church 
in its present state is capable of apostasy from God. And 
whatever is found of this nature among any has its be- 
ginning here; for the sin of despising His Person and re- 
jecting His work now, is of the same nature with the idol- 
atry of old, and with the Jews’ rejection of the Person of 
the Son. 


DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT A CULMINATION 

The dispensation of the Spirit is the culmination 
of Gospel light and glory. Therein God has com- 
municated Himself by the highest revelation, and the 
most intimate communion, of which man is capable. 
He now manifests Himself no longer through the 
visible creation only, no more as an authoritative 
Voice from without, but as a Law within the heart — 
as a Spirit mingling and communing with a spirit. 
The dispensation of the Spirit, with its immeasurable 
wealth of privilege and blessing, is vastly superior 
to that dispensation in which the Son of God was 
manifested in the flesh. Our Savior evidently de- 
signed to convey this thought when He said, “ Verily 


66 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


I say unto you, Among them that are born of women 
there hath not risen a greater than John the Bap- 
tist: notwithstanding, he that is least in the king- 
dom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11: 11). 

Here the wilderness preacher is lifted to a pedestal higher 
than that of David the king, Moses the law-giver, or Abra- 
ham the founder of the Hebrew nation. Yet he that is least 
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. We are to 
understand the kingdom of heaven as St. Paul expounds it, 
as consisting of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 
Ghost. It did not consist in seeing the Incarnate Lord, for 
John the Baptist saw Him ; nor in gazing on His miraculous 
works, and listening to His Divine utterances, as did many 
unbelieving Jews; nor in being numbered among His dis- 
ciples, as were many who went away and walked no more 
with Him ; nor in being enrolled with the twelve apostles, 
as was Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. Jesus must 
have referred to that fulness of spiritual grace and power 
brought in on the day of Pentecost, to be the permanent in- 
heritance of all who fully believe the promise of the Father. 
Every soul, however ignorant and uncultured, which is a 
habitation of God through the Spirit, every human body 
which is made a temple of the Holy Ghost, however weak 
and deformed, is greater than he whom the infallible Mes- 
siah pronounced superior to all his predecessors. Such a 
person may the reader be, if he will by faith enter into the 
dispensation of the blessed Comforter, far more glorious 
than the days when the visible form of Jesus shed its 
radiance on earth.* 

The dispensation of the Spirit “exceeds in glory” 
the dispensations which have preceded it, in that it 
is characterized by a fulness and permanence of the 
Holy Spirit’s presence and gifts in the Church of 
Christ unknown in those earlier economies. 

The Spirit of God has in some measure been mani- 

*“Gift of the Holy Ghost,” pp. 103, 104. 


DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT A CULMINATION 67 

fested in His gracious operations through all the 
ages. He was with the patriarchs of ancient time. 
Pharaoh perceived that the Spirit of God was in 
Joseph. (Gen. 41 : 38.) He was with Joshua, with Sam- 
uel, with Saul, and with David. By His immediate 
inspiration the prophets wrote and spoke. (2 Pet. 
1:21.) Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and An- 
na, all experienced His gracious visitations and mani- 
festations. (Luke, 1st Chapter.) The Holy Ghost was 
upon John the Baptist from his birth. (Luke 1: 15.) 
He was with the disciples of our Lord previous to 
the termination of the Master’s earthly ministry, 
enabling them to perform mighty miracles in the 
name of Jesus of Nazareth. 

The. doctrine and work of the Holy Spirit are 
recognized in the Old Testament with increasing 
clearness as each succeeding economy passes away; 
and the general principles which characterize the 
dispensation of the Spirit may be traced through all 
the preceding ages with increasing distinctness as we 
approach the time of His predicted and glorious ef- 
fusion upon the Church of God. Still, we should 
bear in mind that, however great and glorious the 
manifestations of the Spirit may have been at various 
times under the Old Testament economy, He is im- 
parted and manifested in forms so new and so tran- 
scendent under the New Dispensation, as to render 
proper the statement of the Apostle John, while 
Jesus was yet on earth, that “the Holy Ghost was not 
yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified” 
(John 7:39). 

Certain measures of the Holy Spirit’s influence 
had, indeed, been vouchsafed to the Church and to 


68 


DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


the world from earliest times; but that abundant 
effusion of the Spirit, and that marvelous and full 
impartation of His grace and gifts foretold by the 
prophet Joel, and which were to mark the introduc- 
tion of a new and golden era in the history of our 
world, could not be given until Christ was glorified. 
He must ascend to the Father before the Holy Ghost, 
the promised Comforter, could descend upon the 
Church. “If I go not away,” said Jesus, “the Com- 
forter will not come to you.” The descent of the 
Spirit in the plenitude of His grace and power 
upon the Church was to be in consequence of Christ’s 
completed atonement, and therefore could not pre- 
cede His crucifixion. It was also to supply the 
place and supplement the work of Christ on earth, 
and to demonstrate to all the world throughout all 
time the resurrection, ascension, and glorification of 
the Son of God ; therefore it was not necessary, and 
could not be realized, until Jesus had withdrawn His 
visible presence from the earth, and had “ascended 
up on high.” 

Jesus Christ alone had received the Holy Spirit in 
His permanent fulness prior to the day of Pentecost. 
“The Father gave not the Spirit by measure unto 
Him” (John 3:34). The principles of all the dis- 
pensations met, and blended, and coexisted in the 
Son of God. He received the Spirit in all His fulness 
that from that fulness He might communicate unto 
His Church “grace upon grace.” He received the 
Holy Spirit into His human nature as a fountain of 
“living water,” that from that fountain He might 
communicate a satisfying fulness to believers in all 
subsequent ages. Hence it is written of Him, that, 


DISPENSATION OP THE SPIRIT A CULMINATION 69 

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus 
stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him 
come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, 
as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow 
rivers of living water. But this spake He of the 
Spirit, which they that believe on Him should re- 
ceive ; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because 
that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7 : 37-39). 

Moreover Jesus received the Holy Ghost as an 
anointing for His high priesthood, and hence it was 
not until He had entered upon His priestly ministry 
in heaven, that He could bestow the fulness of the 
Spirit upon believers as an anointing for the “holy 
priesthood” they were to compose. As the holy 
anointing oil poured upon Aaron’s head for his con- 
secration to the high priesthood under the Old Dis- 
pensation, “flowed down to the skirts of his gar- 
ments” (Psalm 133), so the same anointing of the 
Spirit which was abundantly poured upon Jesus 
Christ, as the great “Head of the New Testament 
Church,” now flows down upon the whole “body” of 
true believers, consecrating them as “priests unto 
God,” and “sealing them unto the day of redemp- 
tion.” 

And then, this manifested fulness of the Holy 
Spirit has been given to the Church as a permanent 
heritage, under the present economy. “I will give 
you another Comforter,” said Jesus, “ that He may 
abide with you forever Under the former dispen- 
sations the Spirit was given not only in limited mea- 
sure, but as a temporary enduement. He came upon 
the prophets and the saints of old betimes, with spec- 
ial quickening and illumination, and dwelt with 
6 


70 


dispensation op the holy spirit 


many of them in a limited manifestation of His per- 
sonality and grace. But He has come, under the 
present dispensation, to abide forever with all true 
believers, in the fulness of His illuminating, quick- 
ening, sanctifying, guiding, interceding, and em- 
powering presence and office-work. Hence, those who 
live under the dispensation of the Spirit, live under 
an economy the glory and excellence of which sur- 
pass all preceding dispensations as meridian light 
exceeds the glimmering dawn. It is ours to enjoy the 
culminating glory of that spiritual kingdom which 
prophets and holy men of old beheld only in the dim 
and distant future, and the character of which they 
knew only so far as it was obscurely seen through 
types and shadows, and prophetic revelations which 
the inspired seers themselves could not fully under- 
stand. Their noonday was but feeble twilight. The 
lustre of our moon transcends the glory of their sun 
— “God having provided some better thing for us, that 
they without us should not be made perfect’’ (Heb. 
11 : 40 ). 


VIII 


PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

The Acts of the Apostles contain the most ancient 
and authentic records of primitive Christianity. The 
teachings of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, 
set forth the characteristics of an ideal Church, while 
the Book of Acts presents us with a fitting example 
of the same. 

The entire Church at the time of our Lord’s ascen- 
sion comprised only a “little flock” — less than half 
the number of Gideon’s army in the olden time. But 
God is never dependent on human might or power 
for the accomplishment of His purposes. He can 
save by many or by few. Generally, He “hath chosen 
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, 
and the weak things of the world to confound the 
things which are mighty; and base things of the 
world, and things which are despised, hath God 
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to 
nought the things that are : that no flesh should glory 
in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:27-29). 

This was the method pursued in the founding of 
Christianity. After a ministry of three and a half 
years, Jesus Christ left only a hundred and twenty 
disciples all told. Nor were these selected from 
among the great, and wise, and honored men of the 
world, but rather from among “the common people,” 
7i 


72 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

who always “heard Him gladly.” Neither had His 
personal minist^ among them served to rid them of 
their Jewish prejudices, their dulness of spiritual ap- 
prehension, their narrowness, their childish weak- 
nesses, their foibles, and the numerous inconsistencies 
to which they always seemed prone until after the 
Day of Pentecost. A feeble army, one would natural- 
ly suppose, to go forth and plant the standard of the 
Cross and establish the religion of the despised and 
crucified Nazarene in the very centers, and to the re- 
motest limits, of Grecian and Eoman civilization. 
Yet this was the very work to which their Master 
had commissioned them; and the marvelous success 
with which they accomplished it, has been recorded 
by St. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles. 


SECRET OF SUCCESS IN THE EARLY CHURCH 

With every civil and ecclesiastical power on earth 
in hostile array against the religion of the Cross, and 
with all the culture and refinement of Greece and 
Eome frowning upon and sneering at those who were 
the expounders and defenders of the new Faith, the 
unlearned and feeble few went forth on their mis- 
sion, depending on His Word of promise who had 
said, concerning the work to which they were ap- 
pointed, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against 
it.” And so successful was their mission, though con- 
stantly confronted and withstood by hellish opposi- 
tion, that, within three score years after the cruci- 
fixion of their Master, they had unfurled the banner 
of the Cross and successfully planted the religion of 


SECRET OF SUCCESS IN THE EARLY CHURCH 73 

the Nazarene in all the principal cities of the world. 
Insignificant as the instrumentalities employed 
might have appeared to those whose views of great- 
ness were measured by the world’s standard, they 
accomplished, within a single generation, a work 
which has been regarded in all subsequent ages, as 
a miracle unsurpassed in the annals of the world. 

The secret of the wonderful power and effective- 
ness which attended the labors of the first ministers 
of Christianity, and whereby they wrought such 
mighty marvels and won such unheard-of conquests, 
was not in any natural resources of wisdom and 
energy, nor the result of any gifts or acquirements 
of a natural kind. It consisted rather in those excel- 
lent, unutterable, and Divine gifts which were be- 
stowed upon them with the descent and baptism of 
the Holy Ghost, at the never-to-be-forgotten Feast of 
Pentecost. 

The narration of the wonderful events connected 
with that great inaugural day of the New Testament 
Church and Dispensation, is contained in the Second 
Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. To some parts 
of the inspired narrative, as there recorded, special 
consideration w r ill now be given, as the apostolic 
doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost is largely con- 
tained therein. The record begins as follows : “And 
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were 
all with one accord in one place. And suddenly 
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing 
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they 
were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven 
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 


74 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave 
them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). 

THE PARTICULAR SEASON 

St. Luke records, as worthy of special note, that 
the Holy Ghost was not given until “the day of 
Pentecost was fully come.” The appropriateness of 
this particular season, as that in which the glorious 
and full effusion of the Spirit should come upon the 
Church of Christ, deserves a brief consideration. 

The Father keeps “the times and seasons in His 
own power.” Accordingly there is always a fitness 
of season in whatever God does, as also in all His 
special revelations and manifestations of Himself. 
That “the promise of the Father” concerning the spe- 
cial gift of the Comforter was not fulfilled until 
“the day of Pentecost was fully come,” is highly sig- 
nificant. Pentecost was a hallowed feast of the 
Jews, which had “preserved the most gracious and 
pathetic memories of Israel” through more than 
twenty centuries of their history. It was instituted 
and first celebrated just fifty days after the institu- 
tion of the Passover and the deliverance from Egyp- 
tian bondage. Hence its name, Trevr^/cocrn/, which 
signifies the fiftieth . It was sometimes called “the 
feast of weeks” by the Hebrews (Exod. 34:22), be- 
cause its celebration always occurred at the comple- 
tion of seven full weeks from the annual Passover. 
Its institution was connected with the giving of the 
Law on Sinai, which event, in Israel’s later history, 
it specially commemorated and celebrated. From 
this circumstance it afterward came to be designated 


THE PARTICULAR SEASON 


75 


also as “the Feast of the Law.” And from the fact 
that its celebration always occurred at the comple- 
tion of the wheat harvest, at which time the first- 
fruits of the wheat harvest, threshed, ground, and 
converted into two loaves of leavened bread, were 
offered unto the Lord (Deut. 16:9, 10 and Lev. 23: 
17), it was also called “the Feast of the Harvest.” 

The day of Pentecost, therefore, was related to 
three important events which serve to increase the 
significance and consistency of the descent of the 
Comforter on that great festival occasion, to wit: 
the deliverance from Egypt, the giving of the Law, 
and the completed harvest. The inauguration of the 
New Dispensation, by its coincidence with this hal- 
lowed festival of the Old Economy, “touched upon 
the historic line of Jewish worship, yet escaped the 
glittering point which would have localized and de- 
based its significance.” On this memorable occasion, 
as also on the Passover fifty days previous, Judaism 
was both honored and gloriously superseded by 
Christianity. The paschal lamb gave place to “Christ 
our Passover ;” and the giving of the Law to the gift 
of the Divine Comforter, whose gracious ministry was 
designed “for every nation under heaven” (Ver. 5). 

There is a correspondence between the giving of the Law, 
which is celebrated by this feast of Pentecost, together with 
the crucifixion of our Lord which took place at the Pass- 
over, and the descent of the Holy Spirit which occurred at 
this Pentecost. (1) At the Passover the Israelites were 
delivered from Egyptian bondage; this was a type of the 
thralldom in which the human race was to sin and Satan. 
(2) At the Passover, Jesus Christ, who was typified by the 
paschal lamb, was “sacrificed” for the sin of the world, and 
by this sacrifice redemption from sin and Satan was pro- 


y6 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

cured and proclaimed. (3) On the Pentecost, God gave 
His Law on Mount Sinai, accompanied • with thunderings 
and lightnings. On the Pentecost, God sent down His Holy 
Spirit, like “a rushing, mighty wind and “tongues of fire” 
sat upon each disciple, in order that, by His influence, the 
new law of Light and Life might be promulgated and estab- 
lished. Thus the analogy between the Egyptian bondage and 
the thralldom occasioned by sin — the deliverance from Egypt 
and the redemption from sin — the giving of the Law with 
all its emblematic accompaniments, and the sending down 
of the Holy Spirit, with His symbols of light, life, and power, 
has been exactly preserved. (4) At the Jewish Passover 
Christ was degraded, humbled, and ignominiously put to 
death: at the following festival He was highly glorified; 
and the all-conquering and ever-enduring might of His king- 
dom then commenced. The Holy Spirit seems to have de- 
signed all these analogies, to show that, through all the pre- 
ceding ages, God had the dispensation of the Gospel in view ; 
and that the Old Law and its ordinances were only designed 
as preparatives for the New.* 

The analogy may very properly be carried farther. 
As the feast of Pentecost was a harvest festival, cele- 
brated by Israel in acknowledgment of God’s domin- 
ion over their country, and by offering unto Him the 
first-fruits of their completed wheat harvest, in the 
form of two wave-loaves baked with leaven — a type 
of perfection — so the gift of the Holy Ghost, on this 
great festival occasion, was to the end that the 
Church of Christ might, from that day forward, pre- 
sent unto God “the first-fruits” of Christ’s finished 
atonement, in the personal and complete sanctifica- 
tion and holiness of its members ! 

At the first Pentecost, the Law of God was given, 
engraved on tables of stone. At the memorable Jeru- 
salem Pentecost, and by the baptism with the Holy 

♦“Clarke’s Commentary.” 


THE PARTICULAR SEASON 


77 


Ghost, that Law which was originally engraved on 
tables of stone, was written upon the minds and 
hearts of the disciples. To have God’s law written 
on the heart is to attain to God’s ideal of holy char- 
acter. The holiness of Christ consisted in this. The 
following words of the Psalmist, applied in the New 
Testament to a description of Christ’s perfect right- 
eousness, accord with this idea : “Sacrifice and offer- 
ing Thou didst not desire: Mine ears hast Thou 
opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou 
not required. Then said I, Lo, I come ; in the volume 
of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy 
will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart” 
(Psa. 40:6-8). 

The baptism of the Holy Ghost is God’s method of 
writing that law on our hearts, thereby conforming 
us to the image and character of His Son. This is 
sanctification, holiness, perfection of Christian char- 
acter. This is the great distinguishing promise con- 
cerning the Holy Ghost dispensation : 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a 
new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house 
of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with 
their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to 
bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant 
they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith 
the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make 
with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, 
I will put My Law in their inward parts , and write it in 
their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My 
people. And they shall teach no more every man his neigh- 
bor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord : 
for all shall know Me, from the least of them even unto the 
greatest of them, saith the Lord. (Jer. 31:31-34.) 


78 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


St. Paul, in addressing those who were the subjects 
of what he terms, in contradistinction from the dis- 
pensation of the Law, “the ministration of the 
Spirit/’ says: “Ye are our epistle written in our 
hearts, known and read of all men : forasmuch as ye 
are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ 
ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the 
Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of stone, but 
in fleshly tables of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:2, 3). And 
the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, after 
proving that the legal economy “could make nothing 
perfect,” declares of Christ, that, “By one offering, 
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified; 
whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us : for 
after that He had said before, This is the covenant 
that I will make with them after those days, saith 
the Lord ; I will put My laws into their hearts , and 
in their minds will I write them/’ etc. (Chap. 10: 14- 
16). 

In the indwelling, abiding, sanctifying, enlighten- 
ing, empowering, and guiding ministry of the' Com- 
forter, the believer in Christ partakes “the first-fruits 
of the Spirit” (Bom. 8:23). All these blessings are 
given also in proof and in consequence of Christ’s 
resurrection and glorification “as the first-fruits of 
them that slept.” They constitute the pledge and 
foretaste of the final, complete, and everlasting glori- 
fication of “them which are sanctified.” How beau- 
tifully and consistently type and antitype correspond 
with each other, touching the dispensation of and 
baptism with the Holy Ghost! And how curiously 
and beautifully does God interweave the different 
dispensations of revealed religion, constructing into 


THE CHURCH'S READINESS 


79 


majestic completeness those events which, viewed 
apart from their relation to the Divine purpose in 
Redemption, would appear only as scattered frag- 
ments of human experience and history! “Oh, the 
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowl- 
edge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, 
and His ways past finding out !" (Rom. 11 : 33.) 

THE CHURCH'S READINESS 

The preparedness of the infant Church for the 
promised advent of the Comforter, is declared in the 
words, “They were all with one accord in one place." 

1. They were all 6[xo6v[xaSbv , with one accord. 
The Greek word is very emphatic, and signifies a per^ 
feet concurrence of thought, purpose, affection, hope, 
and faith ; like the concurrent tones of a well-tuned 
harp or organ. The “all" here mentioned, refers to 
the hundred and twenty disciples who were assembled 
at the election of Matthias. (Chapter 1: 15.) These 
comprised the whole Christian Church at that time. 
They were all awaiting, in accordance with their 
Lord’s direction, the enduement of “power from on 
high" — the fulfilment of “the promise of the Father" 
— in the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them. On 
this great event, their faith, their hopes, and their 
most ardent desires were concentrated; and, having 
the same end in view, the same faith, hope, and de- 
sire, they had but one prayer, which every heart ut- 
tered, and which one and all breathed forth toward 
heaven as the prayer of faith. It is not improbable, 
however, that, when the day of Pentecost had come, 
their prayers were “hushed into deep and silent heart- 


80 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

breathings/’ and that “a period of silence and ex- 
pectation in which no man had aught to say to his 
brother/’ immediately preceded the “sound from 
heaven/’ as a lull, prophetic of some sudden shock 
or commotion among the elements precedes the ap- 
proaching cyclone, tornado or earthquake. Prayer is 
never mightier than when breathed with 

“That speechless awe that dares not move, 

And all the silent heaven of love.” 

If we conceive of the hundred and twenty disciples 
on this occasion as awaiting, in united but silent 
prayer and expectation of the coming of the Com- 
forter, we shall the more fully appreciate the contrast 
which was developed when they were startled by a 
sudden “sound from heaven, as of a rushing, mighty 
wind.” 

This being “of one accord” is an essential condi- 
tion of the manifestation of the Holy Ghost, in any 
marked degree, among God’s people to-day. The 
Spirit of God never comes, in Pentecost baptisms, 
upon a Church which is rent by strifes and divisions. 
Many religious societies and assemblies pray for the 
Holy Ghost, to which the following language of an 
inspired apostle might be addressed with great pro- 
priety : “Ye lust, and have not : ye kill, and desire 
to have, and can not obtain : ye fight and war, yet ye 
have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive 
not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it 
upon your lusts” (James 4:2, 3). 

If a group of people would experience a shock from 
an electric battery, they must be connected with each 
other, as well as with the poles of the battery. The 


THE CHURCHES READINESS 


8l 


withdrawing of a single hand breaks the current, 
and renders the expected thrill impossible. There is 
something analogous to this in the condition upon 
which the Holy Ghost is given. Not until the mem- 
bers of a Church or religious assembly are “all of one 
accord,” can that Church or assembly receive the 
fulness of the Spirit’s manifestation and power. 
This accounts for the failure of many religious ser- 
vices which are full of promise in the beginning. As 
the good work progresses, the worshipers become 
fervent, their faith grows strong and vigorous, their 
differences concerning minor matters are swallowed 
up in the one ardent desire for an outpouring of the 
Holy Ghost, and the point of absolute accord , which 
renders the enduement “with power from on high” 
legitimately possible, is almost reached; when, sud- 
denly, some soul falters, or in some way breaks “the 
unity of the Spirit,” and the meeting drops to its 
former level, if not to a still lower plane. We sing: 

“Touched by the lode-stone of Thy love, 

Let all our hearts agree; 

And ever toward each other move, 

And ever move toward Thee.” 

And not until God’s people are drawn together in a 
unity like this, will they, in any place, realize the 
full and glorious manifestation of the Holy Spirit in 
their midst. 

The disciples in the “upper room” at Jerusalem 
had “prepared the way of the Lord.” There had 
been disagreements and contentions among them, but 
these were settled before the day of Pentecost ar- 
rived. The whole company were “of one accord” on 


82 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

that occasion, being united in purpose, in affection, in 
desire, and in faith ; and when they had reached this 
point of agreement, the Holy Ghost came down in 
glorious effusion and manifestation, to meet their 
united faith and prayer. The same simple conditions, 
met by the Church to-day, will render the communi- 
cation of the heavenly baptism legitimate and cer- 
tain. But this condition of “accord,” or agreement, 
is indispensable. 

Were we to form a circle with a thousand needles 
and place a magnet in the center, they would all, by 
the attractive power of the magnet, be drawn to 
itself. So by the attractive power of the love of 
Christ must the children of God be drawn together, 
and all together drawn to God, if they would realize 
Pentecostal outpourings of the Holy Spirit. When- 
ever, like the disciples at Pentecost, any assembly of 
believers are met in this spirit, they may confidently 
expect to be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Our 
Lord has said, “That if two of you shall agree on 
earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it 
shall be done for them of My Father which is in 
heaven” (Matt. 18: 19). 

2. They were all “in one place.” The best authori- 
ties of the present day are of the opinion that the 
“place” here mentioned was not the Temple, nor any 
room of that sacred edifice. We read in the previous 
chapter, that when the disciples returned from Olivet, 
where they had witnessed the Lord’s ascension, 
“They went up into an upper room, where abode both 
Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and 
Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son 
of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother 


THE CHURCH’S READINESS 


83 


of James;” and that “These all continued with one 
accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, 
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His breth- 
ren.” It is highly probable that the “place” in which 
they were assembled on the day of Pentecost was the 
same “upper room” into which they entered on their 
return from Mount Olivet. That room was evidently 
an apartment of some private residence, as it was a 
place where all the apostles, yjaav KarajueWTe?, were* 
lodging. (Chapter 1:13.) The time for distinct 
separation from Judaism had come. 

Already the shadow of doom lay across the temple roof; 
hence it was better that the living and indestructible Church 
should not be identified with a building marked for destruc- 
tion; and yet that it should touch, rather by coincidence 
than by sympathy, a hallowed feast which preserved the 
most gracious and pathetic memories of Israel.* 

The particular locality in which our Lord’s dis- 
ciples were gathered on this memorable occasion is, 
however, of inferior importance. That which is most 
significant is the fact, that “they were all together 
in one place,” as the Revised Version reads ; and “all 
continued with one accord in prayer and supplica- 
tion.” Doubting Thomas was now cured of his unbe- 
lief, and, with the rest of the apostles, waited in 
faith for the promised manifestation of the Holy 
Spirit. He had missed one blessing by being absent 
from the assembly of his brethren when the risen 
Lord was manifested unto them ; he could not afford 
to miss another. The day of Pentecost found the 
apostles and the disciples of the Master “ all to- 
gether,” tarrying for the enduement of power from on 

•“The Paraclete,” p. 152. 


84 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

high. Nor did they assemble, and wait, and pray in 
vain. The Spirit came, attended with symbols of 
light, and life, and power, and with a suddenness 
that surprised them all ; and “they were all filled” 
with His presence, and endued with His grace and 
power. 

Special Divine manifestations are promised to 
every assemblage of religious worshipers, however 
small the number, who are assembled in the name of 
Christ. “For where two or three are gathered to- 
gether in My name,” said Jesus, “there am I in the 
midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). No Church will, as 
a whole, enjoy large measures of the Holy Spirit’s 
presence and power, unless there be a frequent gath- 
ering together of its members “in one place,” and in 
Jesus’ name, for the joint maintenance of spiritual 
fellowship and devotion. We must heed the scrip- 
tural injunction to “forsake not the assembling of 
ourselves together, as the manner of some is,” if we 
would enjoy refreshing manifestations and powerful 
outpourings of the Holy Ghost. But whenever the 
members of any religious society are gathered to- 
gether, like the disciples at Pentecost, — “with one 
accord,” and “in one place,” — it is their privilege to 
expect and realize a pentecostal manifestation of the 
Spirit upon them, as a source of renewed inspiration 
and power. 


IX 


PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT— 
Continued 

Three sensible miracles attended the descent of 
the Comforter on the day of Pentecost — “a sound 
from heaven, as of a rushing, mighty wind,” the ap- 
pearance of “cloven tongues, like as of fire,” and 
speaking with tongues the disciples had never learned. 
Each had its peculiar signification, and deserves our 
careful study, in order that we may know and profit 
by the lessons it was designed to teach. 


THE SOUND PROM HEAVEN 

This sensible manifestation of the Spirit’s descent 
came “suddenly ” The disciples had been waiting 
in earnest expectation ten days for the advent of the 
promised Comforter. Yet the suddenness with which 
He was finally manifested was an evident surprise 
to the entire company. It is generally if not uni- 
versally so with the operations and manifestations of 
the Holy Spirit. He comes with a suddenness that 
surprises those of strongest and most lively faith. 

The suddenness of Divine appearances is expressly noted 
in the Scriptures [says Dr. Joseph Parker]. Thus: “The 
Lord spake suddenly unto Moses and Aaron the Lord is to 
come suddenly to His Temple ; suddenly there was with the 


86 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

angel of the annunciation a multitude of the heavenly host ; 
and in this case [the sound of], the rushing, mighty wind 
came suddenly from heaven. All great events appear to 
come with suddenness, even when long expected and wearily 
waited for. When did death come other than suddenly, 
though the watchers thought themselves prepared for the 
solemn presence? In every line there is a climacteric point. 
Intellectual illumination is sudden, but intellectual education 
is always slow. In a moment the mind sees the vision, and 
is consequently tempted to describe the disclosure as sudden, 
how laborious soever the process of study and self-prepara- 
tion. Even Archimedes felt that the wind came suddenly 
from heaven, and he shouted, Eureka ! like a slave bounding 
from constraint into liberty. From the Divine side there 
can be nothing sudden. This pentecostal baptism had ac- 
tually been foretold by one of the prophets of Judah. The 
fact was declared, the hour was concealed. Soldiers advanc- 
ing to battle know that the word of command will be spoken, 
yet so sudden will be its utterance, that it will come upon 
them like a shock; they know the fact, they do not know 
the time. God proceeds by this method. He gives the great 
promise, but keeps back the hour of its fulfilment; thus: 
“the kingdom shall be restored to Israel, but it is not for 
you to know the times and seasons of the restoration : I will 
come to the world in Judgment, but it will be as a thief in 
the night; of that day and that hour knoweth no man, not 
even the Son ; the Father alone knoweth : the Son of man 
will come at an hour when He is not expected.” So in this 
case: far back in time, even when Azariah was king in Ju- 
dah, the prophet had said, “It shall come to pass in the 
last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh ; 
and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out 
in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy;” and 
Peter claimed the scene at Pentecost as the fulfilment of 
these words of old. In this way men are trained to live 
by faith, and in this way is reserved for them the keen joy 
that comes of suddenness and surprise.* 

The suddenness of the Spirit’s manifestation, as 

♦Joseph Parker in “The Paraclete,” pp. 153-155. 


THE SOUND 


87 


here recorded, may also be considered as symbolizing 
His instantaneous work in regeneration and sancti- 
fication. Regeneration is sudden. It is represented 
as a resurrection — a passing from death unto life in 
an instant. Sanctification, in its final stage, is also 
instantaneous, and is represented as merely a touch 
of the lips. Said the seraph who laid the live coal 
upon Isaiah’s mouth, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips , 
and thy sin is purged, and thine iniquity is taken 
away” (Isa. 6:7). Even so the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost and of fire instantaneously consumes carnality, 
and sanctifies “the whole spirit, soul, and body.” 

“O that it now from heaven might fall, 

And all my sins consume ; 

Come, Holy Ghost, for Thee we call, 

Spirit of burning, come.” 


THE SOUND 

This sound came “from heaven.” It was super- 
natural in its origin, hence also supernatural in its 
effects. It came from heaven, hence the strength 
and virtue of heaven were in it. It came from the 
throne of our exalted Lord and Savior; hence its 
echo back to heaven, from the Church on earth, is 
ever acceptable and well pleasing unto Him. Mere 
natural or earth-born sounds, even under the name of 
devotion, are powerless to influence men towards God, 
and are wholly wanting in that virtue which alone is 
pleasing to Him. The sweetest melodies and the 
most charming sounds of earth, reach not the ear 
and move not the heart of the Divine Father, unless 
they are begotten of an inspiration from heaven. The 


88 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

time has come “when the true worshipers must wor- 
ship the Father in Spirit and in truth ; for the Father 
seeketh such to worship Him” (John 4:23). 

It is further worthy of note that this first sensible 
manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s descent was ad- 
dressed to the ear. An eminent writer has suggested 
that the ear is the ground of the Word or Doctrine 
of the Lord, and is the organ of sense which gives 
the first admittance to faith. St. Paul says, “So then 
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word 
of God” (Eom. 10: 17). The Holy Spirit began His 
operations here. He manifested Himself sensibly 
and audibly in “a sound from heaven as of a rushing, 
mighty wind.” 

The sound from heaven served first, to call in them 
that were without. GEcumenius is quoted as saying, 
“The sound pierced the ears of them that were in the 
city.” St. Luke says, “When this sound was heard, 
the multitude came together” (Ver. 6, R. V.). The ob- 
jection has been made, that the multitude thought 
ill of it when they had been drawn together. But 
Chrysostom has remarked, in reply: “If they said 
the apostles were filled with new wine when these 
signs occurred, what would they have said without 
them ?” The sin of those who will not hear must be 
upon their own heads. They are like the deaf adder, 
which will not hearken to the voice of the charmers, 
charming never so wisely. (Psa. 58:4, 5.) 

The sound from heaven served in the next place 
to demonstrate the office of them that were within. 
The Spirit came in an audible sound, as significant 
of the fact that a door of effectual utterance should 
thenceforth be opened to all the messengers of Christ. 


THE SOUND 


89 


Had not Jesus said unto them that, after the Holy 
Ghost should come upon them, they should be en- 
dued with power from on high, and should be “wit- 
nesses” unto Him to “the uttermost part of the 
earth?” (Acts 1:8.) And may it not be said of 
them ever since the memorable day of Pentecost, 
“Their sound went into all the earth, and their words 
unto the end of the world?” (Rom. 10 :18.) The Gos- 
pel is called a “joyful sound,” “good news,” “glad 
tidings,” etc. Its universal publication, therefore, 
was fittingly symbolized by the “sound from heaven” 
which fell upon the ears of the multitudes who were 
assembled “out of every nation under heaven.” 

The sound from heaven was also symbolical of the 
Church’s confession of Christ. The predicted mis- 
sion of the Paraclete is to “testify” of Christ Him- 
self, and to empower the Church for bearing similar 
testimony, to the end of the dispensation. Since He 
has come, open confession is an immediate result of 
faith, even more than under the former dispensations. 
The Psalmist said, “I believed, therefore have I 
spoken.” St. Paul quotes the Psalmist’s saying, and 
adds : “We also believe, and therefore speak.” Fi- 
delity in confessing Christ is one great means of 
leading others to believe on Him unto their salva- 
tion. Thousands upon thousands of the early Chris- 
tians proved their fidelity in this matter by nobly 
and dauntlessly confessing Him in the face and amid 
the very flames of martyrdom. Burning them for 
such confession augmented the power of their testi- 
mony a thousandfold. It soon became proverbial 
that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the 
Church.” 


90 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 


“Faith of our fathers ! Holy faith ! 

We will be true to thee till death.” ^ 

There is also special signification in the fact that 
the sound from heaven resembled that of “a rushing , 
mighty wind.” It has been said that, “When God de- 
clares His virtue by any sensible object, it is because 
of some important relation between the sign and that 
which it signifies.” This is particularly true in the 
instance before us. 

When Nicodemus asked Jesus concerning the how 
of the New Birth, Jesus answered : “The wind blow- 
eth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound there- 
of, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither 
it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit” 
(John 3:8). Thus He taught that the Spirit is mys- 
terious and independent in His operations. After 
His resurrection, He “breathed” on His disciples, 
and said unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” 
As “God breathed into Adam the breath of life, and 
he became a living soul,” so Jesus “breathed on” His 
disciples to show that not natural life only, but also 
spiritual life, is given by the inspiration of the Al- 
mighty. After His ascent into heaven Jesus could 
physically breathe upon His disciples no more; in 
analogy to this, however, He sent down the promised 
Comforter, who came with a sound “like that of mur- 
muring wind.” 

The rushing wind is also a fit emblem of the activ- 
ity of the Holy Spirit, and of all who receive His 
anointing and inspiration. Of all the elements of 
the natural creation wind is the most active. In 
fact, where it is not active it does not exist. Even 
so the Paraclete, which is the Holy Ghost, is the most 


THE SOUND 


91 


active Being in the world. Where He is not actively 
manifest He does not dwell — that is, in the sense in 
which He is promised to all who believe in Jesus 
Christ 

We have seen in the chapter on the “Emblems of 
the Holy Spirit,” of which wind is a prominent one, 
that wind is a purifying agent, and is also indispensa- 
ble to life. Even so it is a prominent part in the 
mission of the Paraclete to purify the Church and 
maintain its spiritual life. Without Him the most 
perfectly organized Church in the world soon be- 
comes like a vast charnel house — full of corruption 
and death. How many such assemblies there are 
which will continue to resemble Ezekiel’s valley of 
dry bones until some one arises who, like the prophet, 
can effectually prophesy unto the winds, saying, 
“Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe 
upon these slain, that they may live!” (Ezek. 37:9.) 

The particular manifestation of the Comforter 
which we are now considering resembled “a rushing, 
mighty wind,” or the sound of a cyclone or a tornado. 
What does this signify or typify, if not the strength 
and efficiency of the Holy Ghost? Air, in its undis- 
turbed condition, is very thin and mild. But when 
its activity and energy are exerted how mighty are 
the effects ! When its strength is aroused, what can 
stand before it? The full-rigged and well-manned 
vessel moves not, except the wind blow upon it ; but 
when the spread sails are filled with the rushing 
wind, how majestically that same vessel rides above 
the billows, bearing its costly cargo to the destined 
port ! Even so all the appliances of the Gospel and 
of the Church are utterly powerless until they are 


92 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

energized by the Holy Ghost. Everything else may 
be in perfect order, but without the manifest presence 
and power of the Spirit there can be only failure and 
death. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My 
Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts’’ (Zech. 4:6). 

THE FIERY EMANATIONS 

“And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like 
as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” We have 
already seen (Chapter 5) that fire is also an emblem 
of the Holy Spirit. Fire is illuminating, penetrating, 
refining, purifying, transforming. It is also a source 
of warmth, a minister of good cheer, a symbol of 
ardor, or intensity. The fiery emanations which at- 
tended the descent of the Comforter at Pentecost 
were eminently fitting, as symbols of the manifold 
offices which He came to perform within the hearts 
of believers. He illuminates, regenerates, guides, 
sanctifies, transforms, warms, cheers, and inspires 
with ardor and intensity those in whose hearts He 
dwells. 

The appearance of the “cloven tongues like as of 
fire” was in fulfilment of John the Baptist’s predic- 
tion, “He shall baptize you with * * * fire.” As 

fire had been an age-long symbol of the Divine Being, 
among God’s covenant people, what else could they 
have understood by John’s expression than that they 
should be baptized with Divinity? They were to be 
baptized into union with the Divine. They were to 
be filled and suffused with the presence of God, until 
their very nature should 'burn with holiness, and 
should reflect “the light of the knowledge of the glory 


THE FIERY EMANATIONS 


93 


of God” as it is manifested “in the face of Jesus 
Christ.” The burning heart, burning with fire en- 
kindled by the Holy Spirit, has ever been the secret 
of all Christian evangelism — of all missionary propa- 
gandism. The baptism with the Spirit “combines a 
sensation of ardor with a Gospel of love” Fire is 
symbolical of love red-hot with enthusiasm. Love, 
kindled to the pitch of enthusiasm, attests the 
Church’s true commission. The Church without it is 
a Church uncredentialed and without authority. The 
Church can be thus credentialed, however, only in so 
far as her individual members are “filled with the 
Spirit,” and as a result, with love flaming up into 
enduring enthusiasm. 

There is spiritual instruction in the fact that these 
fiery emanations assumed the shape of “cloven 
tongues.” 

The sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence was a tongue of fire. 
It was a most suitable emblem, pregnant with meaning, and 
indicative of the large place which the human voice was to 
play in the work of the New Dispensation, while the super- 
natural fire declared that the unaided human voice would 
avail nothing. The voice needs to be quickened and sup- 
ported by that Divine fire, that superhuman energy and 
power, which the Holy Ghost can confer. The tongue of 
fire pointed on that Pentecostal morn to the important part 
in the Church’s life, and in the propagation of the Gospel, 
which prayer, and praise, and preaching would hereafter 
occupy. * * * The human tongue, illuminated and sanc- 

tified by fire from the inner sanctuary, was about to be the 
instrument of the Gospel’s advancement, — not penal laws; 
not the sword and fire of persecution; and so long as the 
Divinely-appointed means were adhered to, so long the 
course of our holy religion was one long-continued triumph.* 

*G. T. Stokes, D. D., in “Expositor’s Bible.” 


94 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

In the general sense in which it is said there was 
“a sound of a rushing mighty wind” there was also 
the presence of the fiery symbols, indicative of that 
“glow of hallowed delight and thankfulness” which 
filled the hearts of the disciples, and manifested itself 
“by a rapt and glistening expression of countenance ;” 
but, in addition to this, there was the outgoing power 
of utterance , or of inspired speech, given to each, 
indicative of the fact that the measure of unction 
which rested upon each disciple was received and 
held for the profit of others, and for the edification of 
the Church as a whole, as well as for his individual 
comfort. Each received the gift of the Spirit as a 
■fire, for purposes of individual sanctification, inspira- 
tion, and consolation; but also as a tongue of fire, 
to indicate that this enduement was for the benefit 
of others as well as for himself. The burning heart 
produces burning speech. 

THE SPEAKING WITH TONGUES 

“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave 
them utterance.” This was no “strange and mysteri- 
ous mingling of sounds of whose meaning the speak- 
ers themselves were ignorant,” as appears to have 
been the case later at Corinth ; for we are distinctly 
told in the narrative that Parthians, Medes, Elam- 
ites, dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and 
Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pam- 
phylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about 
Cyrene, and strangers from Rome, Jews and pros- 
elytes, Cretes and Arabians, testified saying, “we do 


THE SPEAKING WITH TONGUES 


95 


hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works 
of God.” 

Much confusion has been introduced among the 
people of God in some quarters of the land by teach- 
ers who have failed to distinguish between the speak- 
ing with tongues at Pentecost, and the speaking with 
tongues in the Corinthian church at a later period. 
The former consisted of speaking in languages they 
had never learned so as to be distinctly understood 
by those whose vernacular it was, and that by the 
Holy Spirit’s power ; while the latter consisted in the 
utterance, while in a state of ecstasy, of sounds which 
neither the utterer nor others present could under- 
stand, except through an inspired interpreter. This 
gift became subject to grave abuse at Corinth, so 
much so that St. Paul discouraged its exercise. (1 
Cor. 14:1-19.) If the scenes he describes had any 
connection with Pentecost, which may be reasonably 
doubted, “they rather,” as Dr. Parker says, “suggest 
the decay of this power than give any idea of its 
original dignity and use, or sanction any attempt to 
recover a gift which the Lord designed to be tem- 
porary.” 

The pentecostal speaking with tongues was a mir- 
acle in speech. And as the other supernatural ac- 
companiments of the Holy Spirit’s descent were evi- 
dently symbolical of the offices the Spirit was to ac- 
complish, why should not this be regarded as symbol- 
ical of the Spirit’s agency in causing the Gospel to 
be proclaimed by voice and pen, and through the 
printed page, in all the languages of men? This gift 
of tongues at Pentecost served a very needful end at 
that time — the proclamation of the Gospel, at its 


g6 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

very introduction into the world, to the representa- 
tives from many parts of the world who were as- 
sembled at the feast of Pentecost, that they in turn 
might carry the tidings to their respective countries, 
thereby preparing the way for its more rapid and 
effectual introduction throughout the whole Roman 
world. In this respect also it was “a sign, a benefi- 
cent token of the sublime future.” It was a sign that 
under the fiery baptism with the Spirit the divided 
languages of men should be no effectual barrier to the 
final conquest of all nations by the Cross. The light, 
the inspiration, the love which it imparts was destined 
to find expression in all languages, and among all 
nations. And is not the permanent publication of 
the Gospel in nearly five hundred languages of to- 
day, as well as its proclamation by Christian mis- 
sionaries in the languages of practically every nation 
upon earth, a fulfilment in a large degree of what 
the pentecostal gift of tongues as a supernatural 
phenomenon signified? 

Mark the very significance of this mastery of speech 
[says Dr. Parker]. As a matter of fact, Christianity is the 
universal language. This pentecostal sign was symbolical 
of that reality. By addressing the heart in the name of 
purity, love, and peace, it speaks to man in all places through 
all time. It speaks to the trained intellect and the un- 
tutored mind, to the old man and the little child, to every 
hope and every fear; it is the one speech which is self- 
interpreting the world over. Here, then, is the inward and 
spiritual grace, of which the miracle on the day of Pente- 
cost was but the outward and visible sign. Why cry for 
the sign to reappear when the holy grace is manifest in our 
hearts? Why go in quest of the burning bush when the 
Holy Ghost is present in the very springs and outgoings of 
our life? Every departure from the spiritual line is a 


THE ABIDING GIFT 


97 


movement toward the elements that are “beggarly” and 
useless.* 

THE ABIDING GIFT 

The striking and supernatural phenomena which 
accompanied the introduction of the epoch of the 
Spirit did not long abide. They served their purpose, 
and soon disappeared. The “sound from heaven,” 
the “cloven tongues like as of fire,” and the speaking 
“with other tongues,” as signs of the Comforter’s 
presence and office-work, passed into the background 
when once His presence and ministry were fully 
established. The real thing to which all else pointed 
remained. “They were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost.” The holy Chrism which came upon them, 
and entered into them, remained when the “sound 
from heaven” was no more heard, when the fiery 
tongues were no longer visible, when the universal 
gift of speaking in languages never learned was no 
longer manifest. The Master’s promise regarding 
the Comforter was, “He shall abide with you for 
ever.” He did abide, and still abides, and will abide 
for ever, with those who constitute the true Church 
of God. He has been installed once for all as the 
Church’s Paraclete — her Advocate, Defender, Patron, 
Guide, and Sanctifier — and it is His prerogative to 
fulfil all these varied offices in each individual be- 
liever, “until we all come, in the unity of the faith 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a per- 
fect man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful- 
ness of Christ” (Eph. 4: 13). 

The one thing paramount to everything else on the 

♦“The Paraclete,” p. 160. 


98 PENTECOSTAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

day of Pentecost; the very thing which all the pre- 
ceding dispensations had anticipated and prepared 
the way for ; and also the one thing from which Chris- 
tianity and the Christian Church emanated, and 
from which all subsequent Christian evangelism and 
Christian achievement of the centuries have sprung; 
was the personal enthronement of the Holy Spirit 
within believing hearts in all His fulness , uniting all 
to Christ and to each other by bonds of holy love , 
“baptizing them into one body ” constituting them 
also “a holy temple unto the Lord” “builded together 
for a habitation of Cod through the Spirit ” The 
spiritual import of Pentecost in Christian experience 
is nothing short of being “filled with the Spirit,” yea, 
of being “filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 
3 : 19 ). 

“O that the Comforter would come! 

Nor visit as a transient guest, 

But fix in me His constant home, 

And take possession of my breast ; 

And make my soul His loved abode, 

The temple of indwelling God.” 


X 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 

The Sixteenth Chapter of St. John’s Gospel records 
our Savior’s discourse concerning the work of the 
Holy Spirit as the Comforter. This brief discourse is 
an exhaustless mine of richest truths, “bearing on 
the deepest questions of doctrine, and on the prac- 
tical discipline of our hearts and lives.” A treatise 
on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit would be very in- 
complete, should it leave the transcendent character 
and the glorious ministrations therein ascribed to 
Him unnoticed. 

Turning to John 14 : 16, 17, we find our Savior’s 
first promise of the Spirit as a Comforter: “And I 
will pray the Father, and He shall give you another 
Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; 
even the Spirit of truth ; whom the world can not re- 
ceive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him : 
but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and 
shall be in you.” This was uttered to comfort His 
disciples who were troubled in view of His approach- 
ing departure from among them. He assured them 
that He would not leave them comfortless, but that, 
when He should have ascended into heaven, He would 
procure for them, through His intercession before 
the Father, “another Comforter” — one who would 
dwell in them, and who would abide forever with 


09 


IOO 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


them. This promised Comforter He tells them is “the 
Spirit of truth” — “the Holy Ghost” (Verse 25). 

Then in Chapter 16 : 7-15, He gives a more extended 
and detailed account of the mission which the Com- 
forter should accomplish. Still speaking of His own 
departure He says : 

But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath 
filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is 
expedient for you that I go away : for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will 
send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove 
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 
of sin, because they believe not on Me ; of righteousness, be- 
cause I go to my Father, and ye see Me no more; of judg- 
ment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have 
yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them 
now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will 
guide you into all truth : for He shall not speak of Himself : 
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak : and He 
will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me : for He 
shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things 
that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He 
shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you. 


THE COMFORTER 

It is worthy of special notice that, in this dis- 
course, our Lord ascribes to the Holy Spirit a title 
which, in its application to the third Person of the 
Trinity, is entirely new. He is designated as “the 
Comforter.” 

The term in the original is 7rapdK\rjT0<s (Paraclete ) , 
which signifies, not merely one who consoles the 
troubled and the sorrowing, but more particularly 
an advocate, a helper, a defender, a counselor, 


TWO PARACLETES OR COMFORTERS 


IOI 


patron, mediator. In 1 John 2 : 1, the term is ap- 
plied to Jesus Christ: “We have an Advocate 
[Greek, Paraclete ] with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
righteous.” Generally, however, this title is applied 
to the Holy Spirit, whose presence, influence and 
operations were to compensate for the departure of 
the visible Christ. 

The Spirit is also spoken of as “another Com- 
forter,” to distinguish Him from Jesus, to whom the 
title is elsewhere applied, and whom He was to suc- 
ceed in His ministry among men, as the great prom- 
ised blessing of the New Dispensation. He is the 
invisible, indwelling, and abiding Advocate and 
Helper of believers, to procure whose manifestation 
Jesus Christ, the outward and visible Paraclete, 
withdrew Himself from earth and ascended up on 
high. 


TWO PARACLETES OR COMFORTERS 

The believer in Christ, therefore, has now two 
Paracletes, Advocates, Comforters — Jesus Christ, 
who represents him as his Advocate in heaven, 
maintaining his cause before the Father; and the 
Holy Spirit, who dwells within him here, aiding, 
teaching, guiding, consoling him, revealing the things 
of Christ, and making intercession for him accord- 
ing to the will of God. It was expedient for the out- 
ward and visible Paraclete to be withdrawn, that He 
might be succeeded by the invisible, indwelling, and 
abiding Paraclete. 

It must well nigh have staggered the faith of the 
disciples when Jesus said unto them, “It is expedient 


102 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


for you that I go away,” etc. They could not under- 
stand how that could be. Had they not enjoyed an 
intercourse and communion with Christ, the blessed- 
ness of which was beyond comparison with any fel- 
lowship between man and man? Forsaking all that 
they had to follow Him, did they not find more than 
all in Him ? Had He not gathered them beneath the 
wings of His love, and, as a loving and faithful 
Guardian, sheltered them from the rage of their ad- 
versaries, given them aid and consolation in every 
time of need, ministered relief from every burden of 
care and trouble, and provided for them an abundant 
supply at all times for every want of body and soul, 
of mind and heart? Had He not with “gracious 
words” instructed them in the mysteries of the king- 
dom of heaven ? Had He not, when they were hunger- 
ing in the wilderness, exerted His Deity, and, by 
miracle, provided bread to supply their wants, and 
with which they were able to supply the famishing 
multitudes ? Had He not also given them that spiri- 
tual bread which would nourish and strengthen their 
own souls, and with which they should be able to 
minister spiritual sustenance to others? Had He 
not, in answer to their cry for deliverance, when 
tossed and threatened by an angry sea, calmed the 
raging tempest by His omnipotent word, and hushed 
their troubled spirits into peace? Had they not 
found in Him a fulness of truth and grace, of wisdom, 
peace, and love? And more than this, had they not 
found Him to be the fulness of God abiding with 
them, and talking with them face to face, bearing 
patiently with their infirmities, kindly reproving and 
correcting their perversities, faithfully warning them 


BETTER THAN THE BODILY PRESENCE OF JESUS IO3 

of their dangers, kindly lifting them up when through 
weakness they had fallen, ever strengthening their 
hearts, pouring heavenly light into their understand- 
ing, lifting their aspirations heavenward, and guiding 
their footsteps onward in the way of life eternal? 
How, then, could it be expedient or profitable for 
them that He should withdraw Himself from the 
world, and leave them exposed to the dangers, evils, 
and sorrows which He had assured them would soon 
come upon them ? 

BETTER THAN THE BODILY PRESENCE OF JESUS 

No wonder that they were sorrowful when He said 
unto them: “A little while and ye shall see me no 
more. 7 ’ Nor is it strange that their faith wavered in 
that hour. It was to strengthen and confirm their 
faith, and to afford “strong consolation” in the ex- 
treme trial then coming upon them, that He ad- 
dressed to them the language we are now consider- 
ing. “Because I have said these things unto you, 
sorrow hath filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell 
you the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away/ 1 
etc. In these utterances the sorrowing disciples of 
our Lord were assured that His departure, painful 
as the separation might be to them, would be for their 
spiritual and eternal advantage, inasmuch as it 
would procure for them the ministry of “another 
Comforter,” who should not only be with them, but 
should dwell in them as their abiding Teacher, Guide, 
and Sanctifier. 

It should be borne in mind that our Lord’s promise 
to send the Paraclete or Comforter, after His own 


104 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


departure, had special reference to the manifesta- 
tion of the Holy Spirit as the permanent, indwelling 
Sanctifier of believers. It was not spoken with refer- 
ence to the preliminary work of the Spirit in their 
awakening and conversion, nor did it refer to the 
testimony which He bears with the spirits of all who 
are justified by faith, as to their sonship in the family 
of God. 

The witness of the Spirit to the sonship of be- 
lievers should not be confounded with the sanctify- 
ing baptism of the Holy Ghost. The former is only 
the initial office-work of the Comforter, while the 
latter is the crowning glory of the kingdom of God 
— the perfecting of the believer in the image of his 
Lord. The Spirit of God was already with the dis- 
ciples of Jesus; and they had the assurance that 
their names were written in heaven. (Luke 10: 20.) 
In the power of the Holy Ghost they had cast out 
devils, and wrought divers miracles. Hence, in the 
first promise concerning the gift of the Comforter, 
Jesus said unto them : “The world knoweth Him not ; 
but ye know Him: for He dwelleth with you, and 
shall be in you” (John 14:17). The Holy Ghost, 
who was already with them, when manifested as the 
Paraclete or Comforter would enthrone Himself 
within their hearts, as their personal Sanctifier. 
Thus were they to be made “an habitation of God 
through the Spirit.” 

The Spirit of God has wrought upon the hearts of 
men in every age of the world. He strove with the 
corrupt and incorrigible antediluvian race. He 
changed the hearts and inspired the faith of godly 
men of old. He was “grieved” and “vexed” by rebel- 


BETTER THAN THE BODILY PRESENCE OF JESUS IO5 

lious Israel, whom He ever sought to win to a proper 
allegiance to Jehovah. During all the successive 
epochs of Old Testament history He was operating 
throughout the world, silently and secretly influenc- 
ing the hearts of all those who did not deliberately 
surround themselves with impenetrable barriers. But 
all this was before that personal advent and mani- 
festation of the Spirit to the world of which our 
Savior speaks in the discourse now under considera- 
tion, and which constitutes the distinguishing glory 
and excellence of the New Dispensation. 

Jesus Christ was on earth, manifesting Himself 
in various ages and places, and in divers ways, during 
those economies which preceded His personal advent 
as the long-predicted Messiah. He appeared to Abra- 
ham, to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to Daniel, to the Hebrew 
children, and to many of the saints of olden time. 

“In the fulness of time,” however, He was mani- 
fested among men in a sense in which He had not 
been revealed before — in the fulness and distinctness 
of His Personality. Even so, the Spirit of God, 
though He has always been operating on the hearts 
of men, and manifesting His presence betimes to the 
devout and pious, is manifested under the present 
economy as He was not manifested to the sons of 
men in any previous age. Now the Holy Ghost is 
“given” in a sense in which He could not have been 
manifested until Christ was glorified. In the mani- 
festation of His distinct Personality, and in the ful- 
ness of His gracious operations and communications, 
He now makes His perpetual residence within “the 
body of Christ, which is the Church,” by dwelling in 
the hearts of individual believers, who are thereby 


106 THE HOLY SPIRIT. AS THE COMFORTER 

“builded together for an habitation of God through 
the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). “He shall be in you,” was 
the distinguishing characteristic of our Lord’s first 
promise concerning the personal manifestation of the 
Comforter. Accordingly, when this promise was ful- 
filled on the day of Pentecost, the disciples “were all 
filled with the Holy Ghost” 

The gift of the Holy Spirit as an indwelling Sanc- 
tifier, therefore, is the distinguishing glory of that 
dispensation which was inaugurated at Pentecost, 
and to which our Lord referred, when He said, “If I 
depart, I will send the Comforter unto you, which is 
the Holy Ghost.” This manifestation of God to 
human consciousness in the Person of the indwelling 
Paraclete, is the priceless, peerless gift of heaven — 
the chief glory of the Gospel — the very climax of re- 
vealed religion! 

This epoch and reign of the Spirit is the glory 
which prophets and righteous men of old desired to 
see, but which they were permitted to behold only in 
the distant, and faintly glimmering dawn, “God 
having provided some better thing for us, that they 
without us should not be made perfect.” 

GIVES A SUPERIOR CONCEPTION OF CHRIST AND HIS 
KINGDOM 

The gift of the indwelling Paraclete is better than 
the visible presence of Jesus, because it gives us more 
exalted conceptions of the Redeemer of men and of 
the kingdom of God, and also disciplines us to “walk 
by faith and not by sight.” This is clearly illus- 
trated in the experiences of the immediate disciples 


SUPERIOR CONCEPTION OF CHRIST 


107 


of our Lord. While Jesus was with them they knew 
Him chiefly “after the flesh,” being knit to Him in 
the bonds of mere human sympathy and affection. 
They “trusted that it was He which should have re- 
deemed Israel,” but they looked for a restoration of 
the earthly kingdom, rather than for a spiritual re- 
demption. Jesus had plainly said unto them, “My 
kingdom is not of this world;” yet they entertained 
only carnal ideas concerning it, while He continued 
with them. The faith they were called to exercise 
while He abode on earth, “was not a faith in one who 
was absent, but in One who was always by their 
side, whom they saw with their eyes, and heard with 
their ears, and who was daily working visible won- 
ders before them.” Hence their faith wavered and 
failed when He was temporarily out of their sight. 
When He was alone on the mountain, their lack of 
faith made them powerless to cast out the demon 
from the lad who was brought and laid helpless at 
their feet. While the Master slept, amid the storm 
on Lake Gennesaret, they were filled with terror. 
When He was apprehended in the garden, “they all 
forsook Him and fled.” When He was crucified, 
their hopes expired ; and when the women, who hast- 
ened to His sepulchre at early dawn on the morn- 
ing of His resurrection, brought tidings to the apos- 
tles that the Lord was risen, “their words seemed to 
them as idle tales, and they believed them not” 
(Luke 24:11). 

Notwithstanding the manifestations of His Divine 
attributes which they had so often witnessed, their 
faith had regard to Him as a man , though of superior 
wisdom, power, and love, rather than as “over all, 


io8 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


God blessed forevermore.” But when Jesus had 
ascended, and the Comforter was given, how changed 
was all this! Then they knew and boldly testified 
that “God had made this same Jesus both Lord and 
Christ.” Then they knew Him — “not after the law 
of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an 
endless life.” 

It is for the good of a child that the immediate 
oversight and guardianship of parents, and the out- 
ward helps and supports by which he is guided and 
upheld in his tender years, should be withdrawn as 
he approaches maturity, that he may learn thereby 
to exercise faith in that which is invisible, and may 
be disciplined to a more noble manhood and a more 
perfect life. Even so it was expedient for our Lord’s 
disciples, that He whom they had trusted and fol- 
lowed as an earthly Master, should withdraw Him- 
self and ascend into heaven, that their faith might 
be raised from a visible to an invisible Object, their 
service of an earthly Master be transformed into 
obedience to a heavenly Father, and their love and 
reverence for One whom they expected soon to assume 
regal pomp and sway a worldly sceptre, be exalted 
into loving, spiritual devotion to a heavenly King — 
to the same Lord, exalted and glorified, as “the King 
Eternal, Immortal, Invisible.” 

Jesus in no wise undervalued the light and privi- 
leges enjoyed by the disciples under His own min- 
istry. On one occasion “He turned Him unto His 
disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes 
which see the things that ye see : for I tell you, that 
many prophets and kings have desired to see those 
things which ye see, and have not seen them : and to 


SUPERIOR CONCEPTION OF CHRIST 


109 


hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard 
them” (Luke 10: 23, 24). Still, what they had seen 
and heard in the visible presence of Christ, was only 
preparatory for the superior light, the more excellent 
glory, the full and perfect blessedness, they were to 
receive and enjoy under the ministration of the Para- 
clete. When Jesus should be glorified in His ascen- 
sion, the Spirit would glorify Him in their minds 
and hearts. He would “testify of Christ.” He would 
“take of the things of Christ and show them unto 
them.” Accordingly, when the Holy Ghost was given 
at Pentecost, such a revelation of Christ broke on 
the spiritual vision of those who awaited His descent 
as they could not have conceived before. They now 
“knew Christ after the flesh no more.” The mystery 
concerning Him, and by which they had been so fre- 
quently awed when He was with them, was solved. 
He was God as well as Man. Now they knew Him, 
not as a mere man, but as “over all, God blessed for- 
evermore.” 

Moreover, all those important utterances of the 
Savior, which had formerly been dark and enigmat- 
ical to their minds, now received a spiritual illumi- 
nation and exposition, which revealed their true re- 
lation to the great purpose for which He had been 
manifested among men. Thus w^ere they put in 
actual, conscious possession of that “eternal life” 
which consists in “knowing the only true God and 
Jesus Christ whom He hath sent” (John 17:3). Nor 
could they know Him, only in an inferior sense, until 
the Holy Ghost was given. 

And does not substantially the same evangelical 
order still prevail? Is it not generally the case, 


no 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


that, in the incipient stages of Christian experience, 
the mind is chiefly occupied with the beauty, excel- 
lence, and perfection of Christ’s human character? 
How forcibly are we impressed by His superior wis- 
dom and goodness, His matchless purity, meekness, 
patience, gentleness and love! How great the ad- 
miration excited in our minds by His unwearied, self- 
forgetful, self-sacrificing activity and devotion ! How 
delightful the study of His life, and the contempla- 
tion of all these active and passive graces which 
made that life so transcendently and transparently 
grand and beautiful ! We dwell more on the human 
than on the Divine side of Christ’s character — more 
on what He was in His humiliation, than on what 
He is in His exaltation and glory. We regard Him 
as a perfect ideal of human virtue, rather than as the 
“one Mediator between God and men” and as “the 
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but 
also for the sins of the whole world.” And when we 
call to mind the scenes of Calvary, in which “Christ 
our Passover [was] sacrificed for us,” is it with a 
vivid consciousness that He died for our sins? Is it 
not rather with thoughts and emotions similar to 
those produced by recalling the death-scene of some 
illustrious hero or martyr? 

How much does this state resemble that of the 
disciples while Jesus was with them in the flesh! 
And as it was expedient for them that the visible 
Christ should depart, in order that, by the coming of 
the invisible and abiding Comforter, their faith 
should be lifted to that which was invisible, spiri- 
tual, glorious, and eternal, so it becomes necessary 
that the Man Christ Jesus, as a mere ideal of human 


SUPERIOR CONCEPTION OF CHRIST 


III 


virtue, as “the fairest among the sons of men” and 
the One “altogether lovely,” should pass away from 
our minds, in order that, by the inward teaching and 
illumination of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ may 
be so transfigured in our conceptions of Him as to 
become our God, as well as our Redeemer, and our 
Savior. 

This wonderful and glorious transformation is 
wrought in the soul by the sanctifying baptism of the 
Holy Ghost. With the reception of that, comes such 
a revelation of the Divine Christ to the soul, such a 
demonstration of the resurrection and glorification 
of the Son of God, as utterly banishes all carnal 
ideas concerning Him, removes the last vestiges of 
sensuous religion from the heart, and fills the soul 
with a spirit of adoring reverence for Christ akin to 
that of seraphs before His throne. It is in this sense 
that “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by 
the Holy Ghost.” But those who have received the 
gift of the Holy Ghost as an indwelling Paraclete 
can say, with St. Paul, “Henceforth know we no man 
after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ 
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him 
no more” (2 Cor. 5:16). 

It is the mission of the indwelling Comforter to 
reveal the glorified Christ to the souls of believers 
to the end that “we all with open face, beholding as 
in a glass the glory of the Lord,” may be “changed 
into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by 
the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). “He shall 
glorify Me,” said Jesus, “for He shall receive of 
Mine, and shall show it unto you.” This fuller revela- 
tion of Christ and of God in Christ; this complete 


1 12 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


demonstration to believers in all succeeding ages, 
of a finished redemption wrought out for them; this 
full and effectual application of redemptive grace to 
their individual hearts and lives by the agency of the 
Holy Spirit ; shows us, to some extent, the expediency 
of Christ’s withdrawment of His personal, visible 
presence from the world, and wherein the presence 
and ministry of the indwelling Spirit are of greater 
advantage to the Church of God than the continued 
bodily presence of Jesus without the indwelling Com- 
forter could have been. 

SECURES A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUAL 
THINGS 

The presence of the indwelling Comforter secures 
to believers in Christ a clearer understanding of 
spiritual things than the continued visible presence 
of Jesus could have imparted. 

By nature men are in a state of spiritual darkness. 
“Darkness covereth the earth and gross darkness the 
people.” Nor is this the worst phase of the case ; for 
men are not only in darkness, but they are darkness. 
“Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in 
the Lord” (Eph. 5:8). Such is St. Paul’s descrip- 
tion of the spiritual state of the unregenerate. The 
natural man may be possessed of a high order of intel- 
lectual life and ability, the most thorough culture the 
curriculum of the schools can give, and a vast store 
of that wisdom to deal with the daily problems of 
life which comes from a long, practical experience in 
human affairs ; yet he is in a state of total blindness 
to those things which belong to the spiritual world 


CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUAL THINGS II3 

and to the spiritual life. “The natural man re- 
ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they 
are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, 
because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2: 14). 

It is impossible to educate men out of their spiri- 
tual blindness and darkness. Nor does conversion 
bring entire deliverance from it, though it begets, in 
some degree, an understanding of the mysteries of 
grace. Conversion introduces the soul into a state 
of spiritual childhood — a state in which spiritual 
life and spiritual perceptions are begotten and mani- 
fested. But in this state the soul’s conceptions of 
spiritual things are more or less crude and imperfect, 
and are intermixed with many carnal views and ideas. 
The attendance of the disciples upon the ministry of 
our Lord for the space of three years failed to remove 
this grossness and darkness from their minds. They 
were not able, at the time when Jesus delivered His 
last discourse unto them, to receive what He desired 
to teach them. Hence, it was left for the Spirit, who 
was to succeed and supplement the earthly ministry 
of Jesus, to complete the work of spiritual illumina- 
tion, and instruction which He had begun. “I have 
yet many things to say unto you,” said Jesus, “but 
ye can not bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the 
Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all 
truth” (John 16: 12, 13). 

Accordingly, when the Comforter came He began 
His work of teaching where Christ left off at the 
termination of His ministry; and, taking the words 
of Christ — “the letter” of the Gospel — which they 
so little understood, He revealed them to their un- 
derstanding, making them words of light and life 


1 14 the holy spirit as the comforter 

within them. Jesus taught them the Word of truth, 
the Paraclete revealed to them the Truth itself — 
truth in its spiritual nature and significance. 

The Holy Ghost is the great and the only infallible 
Interpreter of Scripture . His ministry is not pri- 
marily to enlighten men in the truths of science, in the 
operations of natural law, in metaphysics, nor in the 
minor concerns of life; but rather to “open the eyes 
of their understanding” to the things that pertain to 
the kingdom of God — to enable them rightly to ap- 
prehend the truth contained in the oracles of God. 
St. Peter declares that “No prophecy of the Scripture 
is of any private interpretation;” and assigns as a 
reason for the statement which is at once philosoph- 
ical and satisfactory, that “the prophecy came not in 
the olden time by the will of man, but holy men of 
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” 
(2 Pet. 1:20, 21). Since the Word of revelation 
“came not by the will of man,” it can not be compre- 
hended and explained by the mere exercise of man’s 
volition and intellect. As man was only instrumental 
in receiving and declaring the inspired Word, so he 
can be only instrumental in its correct interpreta- 
tion. As men “w r ere moved by the Holy Ghost” to 
utter the Word of the Lord, so they must be moved 
by the same Divine Agent, in order to comprehend 
and realize its import. 

Literal criticism and exposition of the Scriptures 
are not to be dispensed with or ignored. Nor should 
the importance of intellectual training as a prepara- 
tion for the study and exposition of God’s Word be 
lightly esteemed. The Divine oracles are given us 
through a literal medium, and, from the peculiari- 


CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUAL THINGS 1 1 5 

ties of its literary structure, the Bible, above all other 
books, needs exposition. Let it be borne in mind, 
however, that the best available literary instruments, 
and the employment of the ablest literary criticism, 
can give but secondary and imperfect help to an un- 
derstanding of the inspired Book. That which is 
merely literal may be interpreted by letters ; but, as 
the human body is inhabited by a spirit which no 
organ of sense can discern, so the “letter” of God’s 
Word is but the outward symbol or expression of 
those spiritual truths which it embodies, and which 
are only “spiritually discerned.” 

To discover the spirit and purpose of the Scriptures 
and to give expression to the same by a life of daily 
conformity thereto, is the best possible use we can 
make, the best interpretation we can give of the 
written revelation God has entrusted to the race. 
But this discovery of its spirit and purpose is condi- 
tioned upon pursuing its study in a temper which is 
consonant with the scope of the Book — upon a spiri- 
tual preparedness which the Holy Ghost alone can 
produce. 

A reader going to the Bible in a self-sufficient and self- 
dependent spirit [says Dr. Joseph Parker] will narrow it 
down by private interpretation and probably bring from its 
perusal nothing higher than a crotchet; but, going to it in 
another spirit, he may see it and know it as a revelation 
from heaven. 

What then is that other Spirit? It is so specifically de- 
fined by an apostle as to prevent all doubt of its meaning. 
It is “the Spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind 
and this Spirit is the direct gift of God! He who is thus 
qualified can make no vital mistakes in the interpretation of 
Scripture; while he who has every other qualification but 


Il6 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 

this will never apprehend the genius and purpose of the 
Bible.* 

The Spirit of God adds nothing to what is already 
revealed in the Scriptures, nor does He add any new 
faculties to the soul. He throws the beams of His 
celestial light on what is written, and purges the soul 
from all that would obstruct and blur its vision, thus 
enabling the devout reader, the man who studies the 
Scriptures in quest of God, to discern therein “the 
beauty of the Lord,” and to apprehend the mind and 
purpose of their Divine Author. The fullest appre- 
hension of the oracles of God can not be realized in 
the absence of that spiritual purity and sensitiveness 
which result alone from the sanctifying baptism of 
the Holy Ghost. And not until the Church of God has 
measured up to her exalted privileges in this respect, 
will the profoundest exposition of Divine revelation 
be given to the world. 

When the film is removed from the eye the physician does 
not add a new function to the eye, but purifies it. When the 
telescope shows us distant worlds, it does not add new stars ; 
it draws aside the vail and shows us what God has created. 
So the Holy Ghost does not create a new power in the soul, 
but removes the film — purges and glorifies that which is al- 
ready in the soul. Not a new verse does he add to the re- 
vealed will of God, but takes the Word of God already exist- 
ing, and gives a clearness and distinctness to what had 
previously been existing through the ages. * * * Those 

men at Pentecost had nothing added to or taken from ; but 
they had a better understanding of the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures than ever before, though they had been with Incarnate 
Deity.f 

This sanctifying, illuminating agency of the in- 

*“The Paraclete,” pp. 83, 84. fDr. G. D. Watson. 


CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUAL THINGS II7 

dwelling Comforter is the Divine safeguard against 
the numerous perils which would otherwise attend 
the entrusting of the Scriptures to the perusal of the 
unlearned — the key which enables the plain man, the 
uncultured but reverent student of God’s Word, to 
unlock its hidden treasures of wisdom, truth, and 
grace, to lay hold upon and enrich himself with its 
most comforting promises, to penetrate the deeper 
meaning of its numerous prophecies, and to take a 
firmer grasp upon the rock of Bible truth than the 
most cultured students of Scripture who have not 
experienced the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This 
is “the anointing which abideth,” and which “teach- 
eth” those who receive it “of all things” (1 John 
2:27), and without which those who apply themselves 
to the most critical study of the Divine oracles can 
not discern their true spirituality. 

“I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and 
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes : even so, 
Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight” (Matt. 
11 : 25, 26). 


XI 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER— Continued 

A HIGHER DEGREE OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE 

The gift of the indwelling Comforter secures to the 
believer in Christ a higher degree of spiritual knowl- 
edge than the personal ministry of Jesus could have 
imparted without the Comforter. 

Understanding and knowledge are not the same, 
though they are closely related. The former is an 
intellectual perception or apprehension of what is 
communicated to the mind; while the latter, in its 
highest sense, is a matter of consciousness. We may 
know what we understand, but we do not always 
understand that which we know. I can understand 
the principles of mathematics, or of astronomy, or of 
chemistry, or of botany; that is, I can grasp those 
principles with a clear intellectual perception, 
through the medium of previous analysis, or reason- 
ing. Also, in a limited and inferior sense, I may be 
said to know them. But the knowledge I have of mv 
own existence, and of my own mental operations and 
exercises, is a matter of conscious realization, inde- 
pendent of any previous analysis or course of reason- 
ing. These are things which I know, but which I can 
not understand. I can never understand God, in the 
sense of comprehending His nature and attributes; 
but I may know God, in the revelation or manifesta- 
118 


A HIGHER DEGREE OP SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE 1 19 

tion of His Person and grace to my spirit or con- 
sciousness. The Bible teaches us that no one can, 
“by searching , find out God ;” and yet it teaches that 
we may know God, and that we must know Him in 
order to be saved. 

A vivid intellectual apprehension of moral and re- 
ligious truth does not, of itself, constitute one a 
religious person, or a Christian. St. Paul supposes 
the case of one who can “understand all mysteries,” 
and yet is wanting in the chief essential of Christian 
character. (1 Cor. 13:2.) Jesus said: “This is life 
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 
17:3). The New Testament everywhere insists on a 
knowledge of God and of spiritual truth as the es- 
sence of pure religion. “If any man will do His 
will he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:17). 
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make 
you free” (John 8:32). “We know that we have 
passed from death unto life,” etc. (1 John 3:14). 
“Now we have received not the spirit which is of the 
world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that we might 
know the things that are freely given to us of God” 
(1 Cor. 2: 12). “And we know that the Son of God 
is come, and hath given us an understanding, that 
we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him 
that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is 
the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5 : 20). 

But spiritual things are spiritually discerned. We 
can not know God and the things of God through 
sensation, nor by any process of induction or of log- 
ical reasoning. “God is a Spirit,” and we can only 
know Him in and through that part of our nature 


120 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


which most resembles Him — our spirit. We acquire 
a knowledge of material things through our sensibil- 
ities. We know innumerable other things, undiscov- 
erable by the senses, through the medium of the ra-. 
tional faculty. But there is a vast range of truth, 
which lies beyond the cognition of the senses and of 
the intellect, and yet, which is so adapted to our con- 
sciousness, that we may know it as certainly as we 
know our own existence, or the unity of our own 
being. Back of the sensibilities, and back of the in- 
tellect, “There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration 
of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 
32:8). In this central part of our being we know, 
not by sensation, nor by any rational process, but 
by intuition. It is in this way that we know our 
own existence, the operations of our own minds, and 
the whole class of axiomatic truths. Purely spiri- 
tual truth can be known in no other way. Hence it 
is written in the Scriptures: “Eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of 
man the things which God hath prepared for them 
that love Him ; but God hath revealed them unto us 
by His Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea 
the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the 
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in 
him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, 
but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the 
spirit which is of the world, but the Spirit which is 
of God; that we might know the things which are 
freely given to us of God : which things also we speak, 
not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but 
which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual 
things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth 


WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT 


121 


not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fool- 
ishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:9-16). 


WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT 

When the Paraclete comes to dwell in us He takes 
up His residence in our spiritual nature, and mani- 
fests His presence and makes His revelations in our 
consciousness. “He that believeth hath the witness 
in himself” (1 John 5:10). “The Spirit Himself 
beareth witness [not with our sensibilities, nor with 
our intellect, but] with our spirit [consciousness] 
that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8: 16). The 
Holy Ghost does not begin His operations “at our 
finger-ends,” nor make His revelations through the 
rational faculties ; but He penetrates the very center 
of our being, and, in our consciousness, makes mani- 
fest the things of God. “God, who commanded the 
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our 
hearts , to give us the light of the knowledge of the 
glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 
4:6). 

The following borrowed illustration is to the point : 

In the old tabernacle there was the outside court for the 
sacrifices, hemmed in by a curtain, but it was open to the 
sunshine and the rain. That represents our physical nature, 
which is at the play of Nature’s forces. In beyond the first 
vail, was the sanctuary with the table of shew-bread, and 
the golden candlestick, where the lamps were kept burning 
night and day. That lamp may be considered as represent- 
ing the mind, the laws of human instruction, mental beliefs 
and reasonings. But beyond the second vail was the Holy 
of Holies. Nothing was allowed there, so far as light was 


122 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


concerned, but the blazing light of the Shekinah. A thick 
covering of badger-skins kept out sunlight and lamplight, and 
if God did not shine there, there was nothing but total 
darkness. Now our spirit is reached only by the Holy Spirit. 
The powers of the mind can never illuminate the heart ; un- 
less God shines within our spirits they must remain in total 
darkness. So when the Holy Ghost makes His advent, He 
penetrates through the body and through the mind, and 
enthrones Jesus in the heart. And there, from within the 
spirit, He shines out through the mind and body.* 

The Holy Ghost, when manifested as the indwelling 
Comforter, fills the soul with a consciousness of 
Christ’s Divinity. We believe on Him as Divine in 
the incipient stage of Christian experience; but not 
until the sanctifying baptism of the Spirit is re- 
ceived, does this object of our faith become a matter 
of assurance, or knowledge. “No man can say that 
Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 
12: 3). The disciples believed their Master when He 
said unto them, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the 
Father,” and when He declared unto them, “I and 
My Father are one.” They never knew Him in these 
respects, however, until baptized with the Holy 
Ghost, on the day of Pentecost. It was in reference 
to this that Jesus had said: “At that day ye shall 
know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in 
you” (John 14:20). Accordingly, in his first dis- 
course delivered under the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost, we hear St. Peter giving utterance to words 
like these: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know 
assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom 
ye have crucified both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2 : 36) . 
Peter could not have preached like that before the 

*Dr. G. D. Watson. 


DIVINE PROVIDENCE 


123 


day of Pentecost. The baptism of the Spirit en- 
thrones Jesus in the heart, and begets within it a 
blessed, comforting consciousness of His Divinity. 

EFFICACY OF THE ATONEMENT 

Moreover when the Holy Ghost is given, as the in- 
dwelling Comforter, He reveals the full virtue and 
efficacy of the Atonement as a cure for sin. He makes 
us conscious that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Trusting in the blood 
of Christ as the meritorious ground of salvation, and 
accepting and appropriating it as all-sufficient for 
our sanctification, the Holy Spirit comes and seals 
on our consciousness the fulfilment of our faith, en- 
abling us to know that we are “cleansed from all 
unrighteousness.” 


DIVINE PROVIDENCE 

The ministry of the indwelling Comforter also 
transfigures the teachings of the Bible on the subject 
of Divine Providence into absolute certainty within 
the soul. He who is “filled with the Spirit” will have 
a blessed consciousness of God’s special providence 
attending him in all his ways. When the prophet 
Elisha was at Dothan the king of Syria sent horses 
and chariots to compass Dothan by night. Elisha’s 
servant, arising early in the morning, was terrified 
at the sight, and cried, “Alas, my master ! how shall 
we do?” Elisha, confident and unmoved, replied, 
“They that be with us are more than they that be 
with them ;” and then prayed : “Lord, open his eyes 


124 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the 
young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain 
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about 
Elisha” (2 Kings 6:8-18). 

The defenses of God’s people, though invisible to 
the natural eye, are nevertheless innumerable, and 
mightier than all their foes. What we need is to have 
our “eyes opened” to see our spiritual defenses. The 
baptism of the Holy Ghost accomplishes this, and 
gives the soul a realizing sense that the same retinue 
of spiritual hosts by which Elisha was protected and 
delivered is the protection and power of deliverance 
for all God’s people to-day. “He shall give His 
angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy 
ways ; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest 
thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psa. 91 : 11, 12) . 
And again: “The angel of the Lord encampeth 
round about them that fear Him, and delivereth 
them” (Psa. 34: 7). Also Jehovah declares that He 
“will be a wall of fire round about His people, and 
the glory in their midst” (Zech. 2:5). He who knows 
the Holy Ghost as an indwelling Paraclete can lay 
hold upon all this class of Scripture promises and 
declarations, in the “full assurance of faith.” Amid 
the ever changing vicissitudes of life he reposes on 
His Word, who hath said, “The very hairs of your 
head are all numbered,” with sweet composure, even 
as a babe reposes on its mother’s bosom. It was this 
which enabled Paul to say, with utmost confidence: 
“We know that all things work together for good to 
them that love God” (Rom. 8: 28). 

The heart that is purified by the indwelling of the 
Holy Ghost sees God in everything, and rejoices in 


IMMORTALITY 


125 


the confidence that a special Divine Providence lays 
all things, whether prosperous or adverse in mere 
human estimation, under contribution to its spiritual 
and everlasting good. Tribulation, distress, perse- 
cution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, yea, all 
those events and experiences which worldly men con- 
sider calamitous, instead of being accounted evils, 
by him who has the indwelling Comforter, are re- 
garded rather as ministers of imperishable blessing. 
It is this which enables the soul to “glory in tribula- 
tions, to “count it all joy when he falls into divers 
temptations,” to “rejoice evermore, and in everything 
give thanks.” 


IMMORTALITY 

The Holy Ghost as an indwelling Comforter fills 
the heart with assurance in regard to the future life. 
The resurrection of the dead is as much a certainty 
to him who is filled with the Spirit as though it were 
already past. Heaven is as real to such a one as 
though he had been dwelling amid its spiritual glo- 
ries and its sinless saints and seraphs for a thousand 
years. He now tastes, not only “the good Word of 
God,” but also “the powers of the world to come;” 
and realizes the beginning of that eternal life which 
consists in “knowing the only true God and Jesus 
Christ whom He hath sent.” 

The indwelling Spirit is the prophecy and pledge 
of our resurrection and glorification. “If Christ be 
in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the Spirit 
is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of 
Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in 


126 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall 
also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that 
dwelleth in you” (Rom. 8: 10, 11). The Spirit that 
now dwelleth in us, as our personal Sanctifier, is 
the very same Spirit that raised Christ’s body from 
the dominion of death, and by which the bodies of all 
that sleep in Him shall at last be raised, glorious and 
immortal. 

The same inspired writer also calls the indwelling 
Comforter the earnest, appapwv (“fastening penny”), 
pledge, assurance, foretaste of our inheritance, 
until the redemption of the purchased posses- 
sion. (Eph. 1:14.) By the gift of the Paraclete God 
confirms to our hearts the promise of a heavenly in- 
heritance, and puts us in possession, to some extent, 
of the glory and blessedness of that celestial land 
where our inheritance is reserved for us, while we 
continue to tabernacle in the flesh. In this way does 
God assure us of “the glory which shall be revealed in 
us” when Christ shall be manifested in His glory. It 
is this assurance which enables us to account “the 
sufferings of this present time” as only a “light afflic- 
tion, which is but for a moment,” and which will 
issue in “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory.” ’Twas this sustained the martyrs while the 
flames consumed their bodies, and which enabled 
them, not only to endure, but to triumph gloriously 
in the midst of the fire. ’Twas this supported Paul 
in all the sufferings he endured for the Gospel’s sake ; 
and which enabled him to say, in the face of stripes, 
imprisonment, beatings, perils on land and sea, in the 
city and in the wilderness, by robbers and among 
false brethren, in the experience of weariness and 


A SUPERIOR ENDUEMENT OF POWER 


127 


painfulness, in hunger and thirst, in cold and naked- 
ness, and in constant anticipation of a martyr’s 
death — “none of these things move me ; neither count 
I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my 
course with joy, and the ministry which I have re- 
ceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the 
grace of God” (Acts 20:24). 


A SUPERIOR ENDUEMENT OF POWER 

The gift of the indwelling Paraclete is a source of 
greater spiritual power than the visible ministry of 
the Lord Jesus without the Comforter could have 
bestowed. 

Just before He led the disciples out to Bethany to 
witness His ascension, Jesus said unto them : “Behold, 
I send the promise of My Father upon you : but tarry 
ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
power from on high ” (Luke 24:49). This promised 
enduement with power had reference to the gift of 
the Holy Ghost as the indwelling Comforter, and re- 
ceived its fulfilment on the day of Pentecost, when 
the hundred and twenty disciples, who had tarried in 
Jerusalem according to the command of Jesus, “were 
all filled with the Holy Ghost.” In proof of this it 
is only necessary to cite the more extended statement 
of the same event as related by St. Luke, in Acts 
1:4-9: 

And, being assembled together with them, commanded 
them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait 
for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have 
heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye 
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 


128 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, 
saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the king- 
dom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to 
know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put 
in His own power. But ye shall receive power after that the 
Holy Ohost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto 
Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, 
and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

The enduement of power promised in the foregoing 
Scriptures does not have special reference to the 
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, such as miracle- 
w T orking, prophecy, speaking with tongues, etc., 
though the first fulfilment of the promise was accom- 
panied by miraculous phenomena. Those particular 
gifts of the Comforter which the Church of later 
times has commonly designated as “extraordinary,” 
had been imparted to the apostles of our Lord pre- 
vious to His crucifixion ; and had also previously been 
exercised by them. Jesus had empowered them to 
“raise the dead, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and 
cast out devils” in His name. But while they were 
already in possession of these wonderful gifts of the 
Spirit, He now promises them that which is vastly 
better, namely, the Giver Himself, even the Holy 
Ghost, as an abiding Presence within them. Hence 
the words: “Ye shall receive power after that the 
Holy Ghost is come upon you or, more literally, as 
in the margin, “the power of the Holy Ghost coming 
upon you.” 

That the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were peculiarly 
necessary to the apostles [says Mr. Fletcher], and that they 
were actually put in possession of such gifts, we readily 
allow. But, at the same time, we consider those gifts as en- 


A SUPERIOR ENDUEMENT OF POWER 


129 


tirely distinct from the Spirit Himself. When the Spirit 
of grace takes full possession of a particular person, He may, 
if the edification of the Church requires it, bestow upon 
that person some extraordinary gift in an instantaneous 
manner, as a prince who honors a subject with an important 
commission invests him with sufficient power for the execu- 
tion of such commission. But the gifts of a prince do not 
always demonstrate his actual presence; since it is very 
possible for a prince to lodge with one of his subjects upon 
whom he has conferred no special favor, while he makes a 
magnificent present to another, whom he has never conde- 
scended to visit in person. 

Thus the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary the mother 
of Jesus, together with several other holy women, as well 
as upon all the apostles, with whom they continued in 
earnest supplication and prayer; nevertheless, it does not 
appear that any one of them received even the gift of 
tongues. On the other hand, we are well assured that many 
persons, who never received the Spirit of holiness, were yet 
outwardly distinguished by several extraordinary gifts of 
the Holy Ghost. 

Mr. Fletcher then cites the cases of Saul, the first 
king of Israel, Jonah the prophet, Baalam and Judas, 
who, though “they never fully experienced that happy 
estate which the meanest among the primitive Chris- 
tians was permitted to enjoy,” were nevertheless 
favored with extraordinary or miraculous gifts. In 
conclusion he says: 

When, therefore, we assert that every sincere believer is 
a temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 6:19), it is not to be 
understood by such expression that they have received the 
power of working miracles ; since in this sense St. Paul him- 
self was not always replenished with the Spirit. But it 
should be understood that the same Spirit of humility, of 
zeal, of faith, and of charity, which so eminently dwelt in 
Christ, continually flows from Him to the meanest of His 


130 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


spiritual members, as the sap is known to pass from the 
trunk of a vine into the least of its branches. (John 15 : 5).* 

The enduement of power, then, is not an imparta- 
tion from the Holy Ghost, not an investiture of hu- 
man nature with any Divine attribute, nor a lodg- 
ment of some miracle-working ability with believers 
in Christ ; although it may be accompanied and dem- 
onstrated by extraordinary physical signs. It is 
rather that personal advent, enthronement, and mani- 
festation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the be- 
liever, which is likened to the life of the vine dwell- 
ing in the branches, and which is effectual to quicken, 
sanctify, energize, and empower the soul for the high 
and important responsibilities of the Christian’s 
calling. The Holy Ghost is called “the Spirit of 
power,” and it is the gift of the Holy Ghost himself 
which constitutes that enduement of power which is 
the priceless legacy of Jesus Christ to His Church. 
He whose heart is indwelt by the Comforter can at 
all times say, “I am full of power by the Spirit of the 
Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto 
Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin” 
(Micah 3:8). 


intellectual quickening 

The baptism of the Holy Ghost quickens and stimu- 
lates the natural faculties of him who receives it, 
and thus becomes a source of greatly increased and 
of wholly sanctified human power. When the Holy 
Ghost is given to the believer, He touches every fac- 
ulty of his nature, and brings out every latent capa- 
♦“Portraiture of St. Paul.” 


INTELLECTUAL QUICKENING 131 

bility. When the prophet Elisha would restore the 
dead child of the Shunammite to life, “He went up 
and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his 
mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands 
upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the 
child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm” (2 
Kings 4:34). As life came to the child from the 
prophet’s touch, so the Holy Ghost, touching every 
part of our human nature, quickens the entire man 
into an intensity of life which vastly augments his 
ability for usefulness. How the baptism of the Spirit 
quickens the perceptions of the believer! How it 
intensifies the intellectual life! What expansion it 
gives to all the moral powers! How it refines the 
sensibilities ! How it deepens human sympathy ! In 
short, how it quickens and develops the whole man, 
and puts human nature at its very best for the service 
of God! How a pentecostal baptism on the Church 
brings to light and utilizes for the advancement of 
the Kedeemer’s kingdom, talents that had long been 
buried, and which otherwise would have remained 
forever hidden and useless ! 

Without their Pentecost anointing the “unlearned” 
fishermen of Galilee would never have accomplished 
those wondrous deeds which have immortalized their 
names and rendered them so familiar to men of every 
succeeding age. But for this, Luther the monk, 
would never have been known in history as Luther, 
the great Keformer; Bunyan would never have pro- 
duced a Pilgrim’s Progress ; Moody would never have 
become a world-renowned evangelist ; and many 
others who have won celebrity as philanthropists, 
reformers, and evangelists, and whose consecrated 


132 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


lives have conferred a lasting heritage of blessing 
upon the world, would have remained in obscurity, 
or have become as renowned for infamy as they now 
are for virtuous and glorious accomplishments. 

It is said that the sun has never shone on the 
north side of the Alps. Hence, only ferns and such 
vegetation as seeks the shade, can grow there. But 
on the south side, flourishing in the sunlight, are 
rich gardens and beautiful vineyards yielding deli- 
cious fruits. Could the Alps be transferred to the 
torrid zone and stretched along the equator, the sun’s 
rays would fall perpendicularly upon them, and on 
all sides would be equal light and equal warmth. 
Then, as fruitful vineyards would flourish on the 
north side as on the south. There are many Christian 
people who are only partially sanctified, who have 
many faculties that have never been touched and 
energized by the fiery contact of the Holy Ghost. 
They have some love and zeal ; they manifest a goodly 
degree of activity in the Master’s cause; they bear 
some fruit ; but, alas ! there are within them so many 
torpid faculties! The baptism of the Holy Spirit 
and fire would bring these into lively exercise, there- 
by increasing greatly their ability for usefulness. 
What such persons need is to migrate from the tem- 
perate zone on to the equatorial line of a Pente- 
costal consecration, where the baptism of fire can fall 
upon them, consuming whatever would hinder their 
usefulness, and calling every latent faculty into most 
vigorous and fruitful exercise. 


XII 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER— Continued 
PERSONAL HOLINESS 

>- 

Another element of spiritual power in those who 
are inhabited by the Holy Ghost is that of personal 
holiness. A holy life is a wonderful power in the 
world for the advancement of the Kedeemer’s king- 
dom. It preaches more effectually than the most 
eloquent language unaccompanied by a sanctified 
life. It has been often and truly said that “Purity 
is power.” He who is made pure in heart by the in- 
dwelling Comforter will have power with God and 
with men. When Jacob, after his night-long struggle, 
prevailed over an unsanctified nature, the angel of 
the Lord changed his name to Israel, saying, “For 
as a prince thou hast power with men and with God, 
and hast prevailed.” When the Holy Ghost is en- 
throned in the human heart as a personal Sanctifier, 
the spiritual weakling at once becomes a prince with 
God. Then the feeble one becomes as David, and he 
that is like David, as the angel of the Lord. 

He who is filled with the Spirit of holiness will 
have power with men. It was this which gave 
Stephen such “wisdom” and “power” as all “his ad- 
versaries were not able to gainsay nor resist.” It 
was this that made the early Christians 
10 


i33 


134 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


“Mighty their envious foes to move, 

A proverb of reproach — and love.” 

A man who had been an infidel for many years was 
finally converted. After his conversion he said: 
“Through all the years of my infidelity there was one 
argument in favor of the Christian religion, which I 
could never refute; and that argument was the con- 
sistent, godly life of my father.” Such a life exerts 
a constant influence for good on those who behold it. 

POWER IN PRAYER 

He who is filled with the Spirit will have power 
to prevail with God in prayer. The Holy Ghost is 
a Spirit of “grace and supplication and “He maketh 
intercession for us with groanings which can not be 
uttered.” It was this which made Richard Baxter 
such a man of prayer and such a man of power. He 
“stained his study walls with praying breath,” and, 
as a result, a pentecostal wave of revival power 
swept over Kidderminster, in which scores and hun- 
dreds were saved. It was the Holy Ghost that en- 
abled John Knox to pray, “O God, give me Scotland 
or I die !” until the bloody Queen of Scots trembled, 
and declared that she feared Knox’s prayers more 
than she feared an army. It was after three hours 
of fervent prayer, in the power of the Spirit, that 
Martin Luther proceeded to that august assembly 
known as the Diet of Worms, and there, in the pres- 
ence of the Emperor, his illustrious princes, and the 
representatives of the Pope, “pronounced those sub- 
lime words, that, at the distance of three centuries, 
still make our hearts bound within us.” Asked in 


SPIRITUAL POWER OP TRUTH 


135 


the presence of that great assembly, which held in its 
hands his life or death, “Will you, or will you not 
retract ?” he answered, as he looked around upon the 
assembled chiefs of State and Church: “Here I 
stand, and can say no more : God help me.” Empire 
and Church on the one hand, and an obscure monk 
on the other, stood face to face; but that weak and 
poor man, standing alone, and depending on the 
Spirit of God for help, was enabled to prevail might- 
ily, and publicly to bring to nought the wisdom and 
power of the princes and prelates who had assembled 
to judge and to condemn him. 

Nor is this power lodged with great men, and pub- 
lic servants of God, to the exclusion of others. It is 
for the poorest and the weakest of God’s children. 
All may have it. “The promise [of the Holy Ghost] 
is to you, and to your children, and to all that are 
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall 
call” (Acts 2:39). God chooses “the weak things of 
the world to confound the mighty” — “that no flesh 
should glory in His presence.” He deposits “this 
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the 
power may be of God, and not of us.” “Out of the 
mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast ordained 
strength, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the 
avenger.” 


SPIRITUAL POWER OP TRUTH 

The spiritual power of truth over the hearts of men 
was to be mightily increased by the advent and mani- 
festation of the Comforter. Not only was there to be 
a clearer revelation of truth to the minds and hearts 


I36 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 

of believers, but from the day in which the Holy 
Ghost was installed in office, a greater spiritual 
power was to attend the preaching of Christ’s am- 
bassadors and the testimony of His Church, than had 
ever attended His own public ministry. It was in im- 
mediate connection with the promise of the Com- 
forter, that Jesus said to His disciples: The works 
that I do shall ye do also; and greater works than 
these shall ye do, because I go unto the Father. 
(John 14:12.) When the Holy Ghost was given at 
Pentecost, they preached the Gospel “in demonstra- 
tion of the Spirit and in power,” and thousands were 
converted in a single day. And that was but the 
inaugural day of a long-promised spiritual dispensa- 
tion — of a dispensation of spiritual life, and love, 
and power which is to be perpetuated on the earth 
until “the kingdoms of this world shall have become 
the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.” To be 
“able ministers of the New Testament,” we must be 
able, not only to expound “the letter,” but to “min- 
ister the Spirit.” We must preach, and testify, “not 
with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demon- 
stration of the Spirit, and of power.” Unless, like 
the early heralds of Christianity, we “preach the 
Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,” 
our work will be vain, and might better never have 
been attempted. 

If we do not have the Spirit of God [says Mr. Spur- 
geon], it were better to shut the churches, to nail up the 
doors, to put a black cross on them, and say: “God have 
mercy on us.” If you ministers have not the Spirit of God, 
you had better not preach ; and you people had better stay 
at home. I think I speak not too strongly when I say that 
a Church in the land without the Spirit of God is rather a 


GREAT NEED TO-DAY 


137 


curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, 
Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody 
else’s way ; you are as a tree bearing no fruit, standing where 
some fruitful tree might grow. This is solemn work. Death 
and condemnation to a Church that is not yearning after 
the Spirit, and crying and groaning until the Spirit has 
wrought mightily in her midst. He is here. He has never 
gone back since He descended at Pentecost. He is often 
grieved and tried, for He is peculiarly jealous and sensitive, 
and the one sin never forgiven has to do with His blessed 
Person. Therefore, let us be very tender toward Him, walk 
humbly before Him, wait on Him very earnestly, and resolve 
that about us there shall be nothing knowingly continued 
which should prevent His dwelling in us. 

Church of the living God, “Awake! awake! put on 
thy strength!” Yea, “Put on the whole armor of 
God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles 
of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and 
blood, but against principalities, against powers, 
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
against spiritual wickedness in high places. Where- 
fore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye 
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having 
done all, to stand” (Eph. 6: 11-13). 


GREAT NEED TO-DAY 

The great need of the Christian Church and of the 
Christian ministry of the twentieth century is the 
enduement of power from on high. It is not so much 
higher education that is demanded; it is not an in- 
crease of wealth with which to build magnificent 
temples of ^worship ; it is not the power of human elo- 
quence ; it is not more church apparatus and machin- 
ery that is needed to make the Church efficient in 


I38 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 

accomplishing her mission; but the great sine qua 
non is the pentecostal fulness of the Holy Ghost! 
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith 
the Lord” (Zech. 4:6). 

Ministers and laymen wholly consecrated to God, 
and, like Peter, and Stephen, and Paul, and Barna- 
bas, filled with the Holy Ghost and with power, 
“■would revolutionize the Church, while others were 
preparing their manuscript sermons.” 

“Filled with the Holy Ghost !” This is the secret 
and source of power in the Church, and with every 
true member of the body of Christ. This is the fit- 
ness, and the only true fitness, for the work of God. 
Tarry then, dear reader, until endued with power 
from on high. Lie in the dust at the foot of the 
cross, until the quickening, inspiring, transforming, 
energizing Breath of God shall come upon thee, and, 
entering, fill thy soul with spiritual life and power, 
even “with all the fulness of God.” Then ^halt thou 
be endued with power. Then will God’s strength be 
made perfect through thy weakness. Then, though 
thou art but a worm, God can use thee to thrash the 
mountains, and to exalt and glorify Himself in the 
salvation of sinful men. 

At the naval battle of Salamis, Themistocles, the hero of 
the Greeks, tarried on shore until nine o’clock in the morn- 
ing. Every patriot’s heart beat with impatience at the de- 
lay, and it was hinted at the street corners that Themis- 
tocles had sold his country ! 

But that hero knew well that at nine o’clock a land-breeze 
would spring up that would send his boats to sea, and thus 
change the rowers into warriors, ready for the fight. In 
those days the war vessels were propelled by men at the 


A SUPERIOR SAFEGUARD FROM APOSTASY 1 39 

oars, and, should the wind do this work for them, their 
strength would be reserved for the battle. 

By waiting for the land-breeze, Themistocles secured forty 
fighting men, instead of twenty, for each vessel. 

That land-breeze represents the power of the Holy Ghost, 
energizing the believer, and making his efforts double in 
value. This is the power that God sends to secure victory 
to His people. Tarry ye, until ye be endued with power 
from on high.* 

A SUPERIOR SAFEGUARD FROM APOSTASY 

The indwelling Comforter secures to believers in 
Christ a stronger safeguard from apostasy than the 
bodily presence and ministry of the Savior, without 
the Spirit, could have furnished. 

Those who have received the sanctifying baptism 
of the Holy Ghost are still in a state of probation, 
and hence, are liable to fall from their gracious state. 
They are much less liable to fall, however, than they 
were before they received the gift of the Spirit as an 
indwelling Guide and Sanctifier. They who, in ad- 
dition to the advocacy of Christ on their behalf in 
heaven, have the indwelling Paraclete, whose office- 
work it is to enlighten, quicken, sanctify, strengthen, 
guide, and console those in whom He dwells, are fur- 
nished with the highest degree of security compatible 
with a state of probation. Danger there certainly 
is, and always will be, until probation ends. The 
great problem to be solved is, how to reduce the 
danger to the minimum and increase the security to 
the maximum degree consistent with a probationary 
relation. God has solved that problem for us, and 

♦Quoted from Dr. Prime. 


140 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


has provided for the demand in full, in the gift and 
ministry of the Holy Ghost. 

Those who live experimentally in the dispensation 
of the Spirit, realize the strengthening and establish- 
ing for which St. Paul prayed thus on behalf of the 
Ephesian Christians: “That He would grant you, 
according to the riches of His glory, to be strength- 
ened with might by His Spirit in the inner man ; that 
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, 
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to 
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and 
length, and depth, and height ; and to know the love 
of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might 
be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:16- 
19). He who is thus “strengthened with might by 
His Spirit in the inner man,” who is “rooted and 
grounded in love,” and who is “filled with all the ful- 
ness of God,” may possibly fall from grace; but, in 
the vast majority of genuine cases, there will be no 
falling away from such a state. 

What are the chief dangers that beset a believer? Those 
that lie in the external world, those that appeal to the five 
senses, those that appeal to the mind, they are one class; 
another class are those that lurk within — an unsoundness 
at the center, an inward aptitude for unholy things. Those 
dangers that lie within a man are greater than those that 
are without. A seed of sin within the soul is like a beautiful 
palace with a keg of powder concealed within it, — it may be 
the house will never burn down, but it would be a great deal 
safer with the powder away. * * * 

It is the work of the Holy Ghost to destroy the love of 
sin, and thereby open a fountain within of things good and 
heavenly, so that by purifying the fountain the stream is 
made pure. When the Holy Ghost takes hold of the will the 
rebellion is gone, and the will reposes on the bosom of God. 


A SUPERIOR SAFEGUARD FROM APOSTASY I4I 


* * * In the law of gravitation there is wonderful force, 

but it is so invisible and intangible that it is beyond our grasp. 
What is it that moves the worlds as they run on their light- 
ning-footed marches? God has put His hand at their center, 
and they go better by being moved from the center than if 
they run in iron grooves. God purposes to hold you and me 
by sending the Holy Ghost, whom no man has seen nor can 
see, and enthroning Him in our souls, in our desires, in our 
wills, to guide us in our marches better than if we had 
guardian angels by our side, or walked with a visible Jesus. 
Men have been known to backslide within a finger-touch of 
Jesus. You and I are less liable to fall and better off than 
we should be had we the visible Christ without the Holy 
Ghost. We are better off than Adam was in Eden. He was 
a holy man, and fell into sin; we are in sin, and can rise 
into holiness. I would rather be a poor, yet saved crippled 
man, halting like Jacob, than to be Adam in Eden.* 

Thus God, in the riches of His grace, has made pro- 
vision for our security from falling. Not that He has 
so arranged it that we can not fall, in our present 
state; but He has provided for the removal of our 
greatest danger, and for such a furnishing with spiri- 
tual strength and with spiritual armor, as prepares 
the believer for the conquest of every foe and every 
temptation, and as renders his preservation in holi- 
ness gloriously possible. This preservation is condi- 
tional, but the conditions are simple, and such as are 
possible to all. God has specified them very plainly 
in His Word, has called particular attention to them, 
and said, “If ye do these things, ye shall never fall” 
(2 Pet. 1:10). The Holy Ghost is given to the end 
that we may be fully empowered for meeting those 
conditions. 

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from fall- 

♦Sermon on “The Comforter,” by Rev. G. D. Watson, D. D. 


142 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER 


ing, and to present you faultless before the presence 
of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God 
our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and 
power, both now and for ever. Amen” (Jude 24, 25). 


XIII 


THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

We now pass to consider the work of the Comforter 
in His relation to the unregenerate world. This work 
is one of spiritual conviction. It is set forth in most 
explicit terms in John 16:8-11. “And when He is 
come, He will convict the world in respect of sin, and 
of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because 
they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I 
go to the Father, and ye behold Me no more; of 
judgment, because the prince of this world hath been 
judged” (R. V.). The present chapter will be de- 
voted to considering the convicting work of the Com- 
forter “in respect of sin.” 


THE TRUE NATURE OF THE SIN DISCLOSED 

The true nature of sin can never be understood by 
men until it is disclosed to them by the Spirit of God. 
When He begins His convictive work in the human 
heart He produces a lively sense of what sin is, as 
viewed by Deity. It is not of crime , but of sin that 
He convinces the world; nor is it of sin regarded 
from a social point of view, but of sin as it lies be- 
tween man and God. He so vividly and thoroughly 
demonstrates its horrible nature, that those who had 
previously accounted themselves models of morality 


i43 


144 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

and virtue are filled with shame and with keenest 
compunction, as was Adam in Eden, from the realiza- 
tion that they are in the awful presence of God. He 
exposes sin in all its native blackness. He lays it 
bare under all its masks. He traces it through all 
the labyrinths of the heart, and throws His blazing 
light upon it as He finds it seated in its citadel with- 
in the soul. He makes sin appear “exceeding sinful,” 
not only as it gleams and flashes in overt acts of 
transgression, or stalks abroad in hideous and ghastly 
forms on its mission of destruction among men ; but 
as it lies concealed and smouldering in the man’s own 
bosom, inflaming his passions, imaginations, affec- 
tions, and desires, and corrupting the very fountain 
of his thought and action. 

FINE MORAL DISTINCTIONS 

The Spirit of God in His conviction of sin enables 
men to make such delicate distinctions as society can 
not make, and as civil laws take no cognizance of. 
Society condemns murder, adultery, theft, fraud, per- 
jury, etc., and is organized for self-defense against 
these and their kindred crimes. Yet every member 
of society has in his own nature, unless renewed 
and sanctified by grace, the very root and principle 
of sin from whence spring all these evil fruits. So- 
ciety condemns the actual taking of human life, 
through malice, as murder ; but the Spirit of God con- 
victs the heart where unholy anger burns, of murder, 
even though the evil passion may never have found 
outward expression. (1 John 3:15.) Society passes 
judgment against crime, but can go no farther; while 


THE SIN OF UNBELIEF 


145 


the Holy Spirit traces crime to its origin in the 
hidden depravity of the heart, and reveals this as the 
root and essence of every criminal action. Society 
condemns as an adulterer the man who revels in il- 
licit commerce. But the Spirit of God condemns the 
lustful look as adultery already committed in the 
heart. Society defines falsehood as the utterance of 
untruth with intent to deceive. The Holy Ghost, in 
His convictive work, begets a subtler judgment, and 
shows us how, while no false statement has been ut- 
tered with the lips, a man’s whole life may have been 
a falsehood of the darkest dye. He penetrates, with 
His searching light, into the region of motive, pur- 
pose, feeling, thought, and unexpressed desire, and 
shows men that supreme selfishness of their nature 
which is the tap-root of depravity — a sin so fiendish 
in its character that, if possible, it would dethrone 
Jehovah, seize the sceptre of the universe, and make 
all things minister to its infernal greed. Under the 
convincing ministry of the Holy Spirit men perceive 
that there is something vastly worse than crime, and 
that is sin; and that it is possible, while one is 
esteemed respectable and virtuous among his fellow- 
men, that, according to this new law of judgment, he 
may be a murderer or an adulterer, or both, in the 
sight of God. 


THE SIN OF UNBELIEF 

The particular form or manifestation of the world’s 
sin which the Paraclete singles out in His ministry of 
conviction, is not to be found in the catalog of 
crimes or vices as known in civilized society; nor 


I46 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

among those dispositions of covetousness, lust, pride, 
ambition, avarice, envy, malice, revenge, and cruelty 
which are ever holding revel in the unregenerate 
heart. It is rather on that deadly, clinging disease 
of unbelief^ which no human skill, no earthly rem- 
edy can overcome, that this Divine Agent pours the 
beams of His convincing light. “Of sin,” said Jesus, 
“ because they believe not on Me ” Unbelief toward 
God is a sin of the greatest enormity, though men do 
not generally regard it as such, until convinced of 
it by the Holy Spirit. In His work of conviction He 
goes to the root of the evil and exposes the criminality 
of unbelief. 

Want of faith in God is the great, the prime sin of 
our species — the source from whence springs every 
other form of sin. Hence the Spirit begins His work 
at this fountain-head of evil. 

If a man is suffering from some physical disease 
which breaks out in sores and blotches, merely plas- 
tering over the eruptions will never remove the dis- 
order. The root of the trouble must be reached, and 
the malady attacked in its strongholds. The skilful 
physician will always act on this principle. Even so 
the Spirit of God does not stop at the outward forms 
of sin, at intemperance, licentiousness, dishonesty, 
fraud, falsehood, and violence, even though these 
have debased the soul well-nigh to hell. Passing by 
all these, He goes directly to that sin which is the 
parent and root of all others — the “evil heart of un- 
belief.” 

It was by unbelief that the holy pair in Eden fell, 
entailing sin and misery upon the race. “In the day 
thou eatest thereof,” said God, “thou shalt surely 


THE SIN OF UNBELIEF 


147 


die.” Then the tempter whispered, “Ye shall not 
surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye 
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye 
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 
3:3-5). They listened to the tempter’s voice, disbe- 
lieved their wise Creator, reached forth, plucked and 
ate the fruit forbidden, and in that instant fell from 
their high estate ; and, falling, 

“Brought into this world a world of woe, 

Sin, and her shadow of Death, and Misery, 

Death’s harbinger.”* 

The moment they disbelieved God, the vital bond of 
union with Him was snapped, and they were “with- 
out God, and having no hope in the world.” The only 
channel through which good could flow to their hearts 
was shut off, and, like a member severed from the 
body, everything about them partook of the taint of 
death, and savored of corruption. From that moment 
their hearts, like the earth subsequently cursed for 
man’s transgression, brought forth thorns and 
thistles; and, like a poisoned fountain, sent forth 
only a poisonous and deadly stream. It was their 
disbelief of God that thrust them down from their 
high estate of purity and bliss ; that filled them with a 
burning sense of guiltiness and shame; that turned 
them out of Paradise, and placed the Cherubim with 
flaming sword at Eden’s gate to guard against their 
readmission ; that doomed them to labor, sorrow, in- 
firmity, disease, and death; that cursed the earth, 
and turned this once fair world into a Valley of Baca, 
an Aceldama, a Golgotha — a vale of sorrow, a field of 

♦Milton. 


148 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

blood, a habitation of death. It was their wicked 
unbelief that entailed corruption, misery, and death 
upon the unborn generations of their posterity, and 
that caused “the whole creation to groan and travail 
in pain together until now” under the malediction of 
Jehovah. 

Want of faith in God and consequent estrangement 
from Him has been the prime, original sin and misery 
of the world in all the ages that have succeeded the 
Fall of our first parents. It is the sin of the world 
to-day. “This is the condemnation, that light is come 
into the world, and men loved darkness rather than 
light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). 
Unbelief is the occasion, if not the cause, of every 
other sin, — of all turning away from God, whether in 
our wills, our thoughts, our purposes, our affections 
and desires, or in the outward conduct of our lives. 
The radical sin of the world is the substitution of 
something else than God as the object of faith. It is 
“the believing that there is anything real, anything 
true, anything lasting, anything good and worthy and 
lovely, except God, and that into which He is pleased 
to pour out from the riches of His surpassing excel- 
lences — the believing that happiness may be found in 
something beside communion with God and dutiful 
obedience to His will.” 

Men will not believe the truth, “And for this cause 
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should 
believe a lie: that they all might be damned who 
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unright- 
eousness” (2 Thess. 2:11, 12). “The God of this 
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe 
not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, 


THE SIN OF REJECTING CHRIST 


149 


who is the image of God, should shine unto them” 
(2 Cor. 4:4). 

Since man will not believe God, there is nothing too 
gross, too absurd, too wild and extravagant for him 
to believe under the deluding power of Satan. Unre- 
generate men “believe that the fleeting pleasures of 
the flesh are more substantial and precious than the 
enduring joys of the Spirit — that the fitful admira- 
tion and favor of feeble man are more to be desired 
than the grace and love of Almighty God — that earth 
is truer and more real than heaven — that a life of a 
few years is longer and of more importance than a 
life extending through eternity — that the scarred and 
bloated carcass of sin, with its death’s head, and its 
stinging snakes coiling restlessly around it, is lovelier 
and more to be desired than the pure and radiant 
beauty of holiness.” It is this awful delusion, this 
belief of the devil’s falsehoods, that keeps men in a 
state of enmity toward God, and that is drawing them 
swiftly on toward the nuelstrom of eternal destruc- 
tion. Man’s wicked unbelief is the sin which, if the 
earth were purged from every other sin, would soon 
overspread the world with a fresh brood, as Egypt 
was overspread with plagues while Pharaoh with- 
stood the prophet of God. 

THE SIN OF REJECTING CHRIST 

But the language of Christ is, “He shall convince 
the world of sin, * * * because they believe not 

on Me.” According to this, we must believe that, 
since the Incarnation and the Crucifixion of our 
Lord, the sin of the world, and of which the world 

11 


150 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

must be convinced, is, that it does not believe in 
Christ. That is, that it does not believe in Christ as 
a manifestation of God to fallen man ; as the Incar- 
nation of Jehovah; as the Eternal Word (Logos) 
which was in the beginning with God, and was God 
(John 1:1), but which “was made flesh, and dwelt 
among us” (John 1:14) as the “Mediator between 
God and men” (1 Tim. 2:5), the only begotten Son 
of God, the appointed King and Savior of the world. 

In His absolute Personality God can not be ap- 
prehended by fallen beings. He can scarcely be mani- 
fested to fallen man in any degree as an object of 
loving faith, save through a system of mediation. He 
is manifested to the sinless seraphs in glory, and was 
manifested to the unfallen pair in Eden, as He can 
not be manifested unto us, because of the limitations 
which sin has thrown around our spiritual natures. 
He “dwells in the light which no man can approach 
unto.” The causative and sovereign Fatherhood of 
God can not be apprehended by our species except by 
special revelation. “Neither knoweth any man the 
Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son 
shall reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). It is only when 
He condescends to come forth out of His absolute 
Godhood, revealing Himself in the Person of the Son, 
and by the interior manifestation of the Spirit, that 
He is made known unto men in a sense which avails 
to produce in them a living faith. It is only when He 
manifests Himself as standing in direct relation to 
our species, and when that relation is such as pre- 
sents Him in characters of the utmost loveliness and 
endearment, that the revelation of God has any power 
to elicit from man that filial affection and trust 


THE SIN OF REJECTING CHRIST 15I 

toward Himself, which is the essence of all true faith. 
A living faith implies an immediate, conscious, per- 
sonal relation. 

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the 
firmament showeth His handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). 
And, “The invisible things of Him from the creation 
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that are made, even His eternal power and 
Godhead” (Rom.l:20). But these disclosures of God’s 
infinitude are insufficient to produce a living, filial 
faith toward Him. They are universal in their char- 
acter, as are all those revelations which constitute 
what is termed Natural Religion, save that of con- 
science. In their universality every finite individual 
is swallowed up, as the raindrops falling on the ocean 
are lost in its immensity. Not all the revelations of 
God in Nature have ever availed to produce a living, 
sanctifying faith on the part of any descendant of 
Adam. Since man’s fall, the image of God in which 
he was created, and through which God was mani- 
fested, has become so far defaced and obliterated, 
that man has lost every conception of its Divine Orig- 
inal, and regards it as a creature of his own mind. 
This is verified in the religions of the heathen world. 
Accordingly when God would inaugurate a system 
for the recovery of man from his ruin, when He 
would bring in a scheme by which to win back man’s 
faith and his allegiance, He was pleased to make a 
special revelation of Himself as standing in direct, 
personal relation to man, to every member of the 
human family. Hence the Incarnation. “God was 
manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). “The Word 
was made flesh, and dwelt among us [and we beheld 


152 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father], full of grace and truth” (John 1: 14). 

THE SOUL-DAMNING SIN 

In the Person and work of Christ the Godhead is 
so manifested and brought down to us as not to sur- 
pass the reach of our hearts and minds. Nor is there 
anything in Christ to excite our fears. He came to 
our world as the only-begotten Son of God ; as “the 
brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express 
image of His Person and, in and through our nature, 
He gave us a sensible manifestation of the Godhead, 
in characters, adapted to elicit our faith and love. 
He came to sinners, “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” 
that He might dispel their fears, and take away their 
shame. He came for no other purpose than “to call 
sinners to repentance,” and to reconcile them unto 
God. He came as “the Mediator between God and 
men,” through whom God could be revealed to sin- 
ners, and by whom sinners might draw nigh to God, 
and be at peace with Him. He “came not to condemn 
the world, but that the world through Him might be 
saved.” He came as the embodiment and expression 
of Infinite Love and Mercy, that, knowing Him, we 
might believe in Him, and through Him believe also 
in the Father. “God commendeth His love toward 
us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for 
us” (Eom. 5:8). “Herein is love, not that we loved 
God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be 
the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4: 10). 

Thus God has left man’s unbelief without excuse, 
and has caused his eternal salvation to hinge alone 


THE SOUL-DAMNING SIN 


153 


upon faith in Jesus Christ . And now if men will not 
believe in Christ, their continued unbelief manifests 
the most deep-rooted, malignant, and determined hos- 
tility to God. Since the coming of Christ, this has 
been the sin of the world ; the sin which, in enormity, 
blackness, malignity, and blasphemous contempt for 
the Almighty, exceeds every other sin which men 
have ever committed. This is the sin for which the 
finally impenitent will be punished. For it is writ- 
ten in the Gospel, “He that helieveth not shall he 
damned.” 

The great sin, therefore, of which the Comforter is 
to convince the world is the sin of not believing in 
Christ — a sin of which the world, till thus convinced, 
would never dream as of so malignant a type; and 
concerning which, even at this day, few take any 
serious thought, save those who have been both con- 
vinced of and delivered from it by the Spirit of God. 


XIV 


THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN— 
Continued 

PERSONAL SINFULNESS EXPOSED 

In convincing the world of sin, the Paraclete, who 
is the Holy Ghost, accomplishes His end by working 
in the hearts of men a most lively sense of their 
personal sinfulness. He does not aim merely to pro- 
duce the conviction that the world, in its concrete 
sense, is fallen, and obnoxious to the wrath of God ; 
but He undertakes to convince every man of his own 
utter sinfulness — to convince him that his individu- 
ality is as fully recognized by God in the sinfulness 
of the world as was that of Adam in the first trans- 
gression, or as though he were the only one in all 
the world who had ever sinned. Such was the convic- 
tion of sin which the Spirit wrought on the day of 
Pentecost. Such was the conviction He wrought in 
Saul of Tarsus. Such is the conviction that has been 
wrought in every person who has ever been led to 
“repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord 
Jesus Christ.” 

This personal consciousness of sin when wrought 
in the soul by the Holy Spirit will be so vivid and in- 
tense as to be painful beyond expression. The man 
will feel that the very “pains of hell” are taking hold 
upon him. He will see himself as he never saw 

i54 


PERSONAL SINFULNESS EXPOSED 


155 


himself before. He will feel himself to be “the chief 
of sinners.” Instead of being filled with self-right- 
eousness, he will be filled with self-loathing and self- 
condemnation. His moral sense will be so acute that 
the smallest sin will seem to be unpardonable. There 
will be no longer in his mind any question of compari- 
son as between himself and others, but the judgment 
will lie wholly between himself and God ; and he will 
see himself as though he were the only sinner in the 
universe. His long-continued indifference toward 
Christ, and his oft-repeated turning away from Him 
when His voice so tenderly whispered, “Come,” will, 
for the time, appear to him as a sin of such towering 
height and of such enormity as to outmeasure the 
mercy of God, and place him eternally beyond hope. 
With this conviction “a horror of great darkness” will 
be likely to fall upon him, and his soul will be seized 
with an agony which, in its measure, is akin to the 
anguish of the damned. 

This personal conviction of sin may not be manifest 
to any other individual than him who experiences 
it. The anguish and trouble may all be kept within 
the heart, and the soul’s deep sorrow may be con- 
cealed from others by an assumed appearance of 
mirthfulness and joy. Moreover this conviction may 
be resisted until it becomes “the sin unto death” — 
“the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall 
never be forgiven.” But, whether manifested and 
heeded, or otherwise, the conviction of sin is wrought 
by the Spirit of God in every man, in a degree which 
leaves him utterly and forever without excuse if he 
fails of repentance and reconciliation with God. 
Like the man in the parable, he will be speechless. 


156 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 
THE SPIRIT ALONE ADEQUATE 

Nothing short of the Holy Spirit could ever avail 
to produce this conviction in the hearts of men. Con- 
science could never of itself produce it, since con- 
science seldom takes cognizance of even habitual sins, 
much less of the inborn sinfulness of the natural 
heart, and still less of that particular sin in question 
— unbelief. Conscience busies itself for the most part 
with reproofs, and warnings against fresh acts of 
outward transgression, and may be so crushed and 
violated by the sinner through repeatedly disregard- 
ing its kindly ministry, that it will lay down its 
office-work entirely. Even under the most favorable 
circumstances it is insufficient to produce that living, 
permanent, practical, personal conviction of sin’s ex- 
ceeding sinfulness and hateful bondage, which is 
necessary to true repentance. 

And then, conscience needs instruction and gui- 
dance itself. Its voice is only a veto forbidding what 
is already acknowledged as wrong. Of itself it has no 
power or discernment to determine what is wrong. 

Nor is the Moral Law of God alone sufficient to pro- 
duce the needed conviction of sin. Law deals with 
outward conduct rather than with those dispositions 
from which the outward conduct issues. The Law 
shows man that he has sinned, convinces him of guilt, 
and adjudges him to be worthy of death. It excites 
his fears and fills him with cowardly apprehensions 
of impending doom. But the Law fails to convince 
him of his utter sinfulness — of sin as sin, as that 
which is to be abhorred for its own diabolical hate- 
fulness. The Word of God is quick and powerful, 


REVEALS THE NEED OF ATONEMENT 


157 


sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the 
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and 
marrow, discerning the thoughts and intents of the 
heart. (Heb. 4: 12.) But this sword does its execu- 
tion only when wielded by the arm of the Holy Spirit. 
Conscience and the written Law of God are two Wit- 
nesses which are arrayed against man for his con- 
viction, both of which perform the work to which they 
were appointed, unerringly ; but both of which are in- 
sufficient to produce that deep, abiding, personal 
sense of the awful and damning nature of sin, in 
that which comprises its root and essence — unbelief. 
And this conviction must be thoroughly wrought, if 
sin is to be banished from the world. Hence, God has 
mercifully provided another Witness, even the Com- 
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, to produce this con- 
viction in mankind. 


REVEALS THE NEED OF ATONEMENT 

In convincing the world of sin the Spirit of God 
also shows men the necessity of an atonement . In 
this sense nepl a^a/orta? (which the Authorized Text 
renders “of sin,” and the Revised Version translates, 
“in respect of sin”) may properly be understood. 
There must be such a conviction of sin, that is, of 
the nature of sin, of a state of sin, and of actual sin, 
as will fully satisfy the soul that it is utterly ob- 
noxious to the curse of the Law and to the wrath of 
God, and powerless to remedy its own condition ; and 
that, unless a “Daysman” can be found to stand 
between it and God and “lay his hands upon them 


158 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

both,” there is no hope for its recovery. Under this 
conviction all self-hope will expire. The vanity of 
“turning to others for help will be manifest, since 
they will be seen to be groaning under the same 
curse, and to lie helpless under a like spiritual paraly- 
sis.” 

The feeling of such a soul may be expressed in 
the language which the prophet ascribes to back- 
slidden Israel: “Wherewith shall I come before the 
Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I 
come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of 
a year old ? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands 
of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall 
I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit 
of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6: 6, 7.) 
The necessity of an offering, sacrifice, and atonement 
for sin, as the only way of approach to God, will be 
deeply wrought in the sinner’s consciousness; and, 
until such a way of approach is discovered, he will 
languish in unutterable torment. He will be filled 
with a due apprehension and with a resolved judg- 
ment that there is no way within the compass of his 
own contrivance to ascertain, or of his own ability 
to pursue, that leads to the favor of God ; and that 
there is no other way of Divine appointment and ap- 
proval by which he can be delivered from his present 
wretchedness and from “the wrath to come,” than 
that which is presented in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

“This is the conviction of sin which the Spirit of 
God is to work in hearts which have not believed 
in the Savior of the world. Jesus Christ can not be 
understood till sin is understood. So long as sin is 
regarded from a merely social point of view, the 


ACTS AS COMFORTER IN HIS CONVICTION OF SIN 1 59 

cross of Christ must appear to be an exaggeration, — 
justice assuming a sensational attitude. Why do 
with blood a work that could as well be done with 
water? Why sacrifice a man when the blood of a 
beast would answer every purpose? These inquiries 
are legitimate so long as sin is underrated or mis- 
understood, but the moment that sin is seen under 
the illumination of Infinite Holiness, the cross of 
Christ alone is equal to the tragic awe and appalling 
horror of the situation.”* 

• 

ACTS AS COMFORTER IN HIS CONVICTION OF SIN 

It may seem strange that He whose mission is to 
“convince the world of sin” should, in that par- 
ticular relation, be designated by our Lord as the 
Paraclete or Comforter. We have seen, however, 
that the Word, which is translated Comforter, signi- 
fies also an Advocate, a Defender of a cause. And 
the convictive work of the Spirit, as described by 
Christ, may be an allusion to the office of an advocate 
in a court of justice, who, by producing testimony, 
and pleading upon the proof, convicts the opposite 
party, demonstrates the righteousness of his client, 
and shows the necessity of passing judgment on the 
guilty party. But, even if we regard the Spirit in the 
relation of a Comforter, there is no such inconsistency 
in the use of fhis appellation to describe Him in 'His 
ministry of conviction, as might at first be supposed. 
He deports Himself as the Comforter of the Church , 
in the conviction of the world. Without His pres- 
ence and ministry the Church could never accomplish 

♦“Mission of the Comforter,” by Archdeacon Hare. 


l60 THE SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF SIN 

her mission among men. She would soon be overcome 
and swallowed up of the world. But with the in- 
dwelling Comforter she goes forth from conquering 
to conquest. “God is in the midst of her, she shall 
not be moved; God shall help her and that right 
early.” The testimony and unction of the Spirit ac- 
companying the testimony of the Church gives her 
power to convince men of sin, and bring them to 
repentance and salvation. 

Moreover, the Spirit of God is a Comforter even 
toward those whom He convinces of sin. He con- 
vinces men of sin, not merely that they may be cov- 
ered with shame and confusion, and filled with unut- 
terable anguish and dismay.’ He seeks by this rather 
to show them the nature of their malady, that He may 
induce them to accept the only cure provided. (He 
shows them their spiritual destitution, that He may 
lead them to accept the true riches — the “gold tried 
in the fire.’y^He shows them their exposure to the 
wrath of God, that He may prevail upon them to ac- 
cept the terms of reconciliation with Him, while the 
golden sceptre of His grace is extended toward thenO 
CHe probes their wounds that He may pour in the balm 
of healing, comfort and holy joy^ Were the con- 
sciousness of sin produced by any other ministry than 
that of the Comforter, we might well despair. But 
when it comes from Him, hope, comfort, and heal- 
ing accompany it. He convinces men of the sin of 
not believing in Christ, that, being led to believe in 
Him, they may find remission for every sin, the as- 
surance of acceptance before God, the witness of 
adoption into the heavenly family, and a fulness of 
that “peace which floweth like a river.” 


XV 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF 
RIGHTEOUSNESS 

The conviction of sin and the conviction of right- 
eousness are correlated, and are wrought out simul- 
taneously by the Holy Spirit. In fact, the whole con- 
victive work of the Comforter, as described by our 
Lord, may properly be considered as “one great quick- 
ening operation manifested by its threefold effect.”* 


THE DIVINE STANDARD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

When our Lord affirmed of the Comforter, “He 
shall convince the world of righteousness because I 
go to the Father, and ye see Me no more,” He evi- 
dently designed “to give a simple rationale of the 
process by which the Divine authority was to be at- 
tached to His own life and death as the Mediator be- 
tween God and men.”f 

^TWhen Christ had risen from the dead, and had 
ascended into heaven, the Divine sanction was there- 
by affixed to His character and doctrine, which hence- 
forth became the Divinely appointed standard of 
righteousness. When under the preaching of the Gos- 
pel “in demonstration of the Spirit,” men should be- 
lieve on the ascended Christ, as the Redeemer, Savior, 

♦Archdeacon Hare, flbid. 

161 


162 as comforter convicting of righteousness 

and final Judge of the world, then the righteousness 
of Christ would become to them the righteousness 
which God required, and without which they would 
be convicted as sinners in His sight.) 

THE WORLD'S CONCEPTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

The world has never been able of itself to form a 
true and adequate conception of righteousness, any 
more than it has been able to form a right judgment 
concerning sin. In all ages the world has had its 
notion of sin, its theory of righteousness, and its 
conception of moral differences; but the world’s 
theories and ideas have been shallow, superficial, 
wholly inadequate, fallacious, and deceptive. In His 
convictive work the Comforter refutes the world’s 
false theories, shows it the spiritual essence and real- 
ity of what it had but dimly and imperfectly con- 
ceived before, and both negatively and positively car- 
ries out a profound and vital work of spiritual con- 
viction. 

The cause of man’s inability to form a just concep- 
tion of righteousness, is his own moral degeneracy. 
He is so far fallen from original righteousness, so 
lost to every feature of that image in which he was 
first created, that he can scarcely frame any idea 
concerning it, even as an object of intellectual con- 
templation. He has never seen a pattern of right- 
eousness in comparison with which he might discern 
his own likeness, both “in its original, heaven-born 
purity, and in its earth-sprung deformity and ruin.” 
A muddy pool will not reflect a distinct image. A 
cracked and spotted mirror can not reflect a clear 


THE WORLD'S CONCEPTION OP RIGHTEOUSNESS 1 63 

and perfect likeness. Even so a fallen, sinful nature 
can not, of itself, form any just conception of right- 
eousness and true holiness. Righteousness is so far 
exalted above our nature that it can not enter into 
our thoughts, except by special revelation from 
heaven. Much less can man, unaided, embody the 
true idea of righteousness in the object of his wor- 
ship. 

It has been aptly suggested that were it possible 
for man to form any distinct and lively conception 
of righteousness at all, we should certainly expect to 
find the embodiment of that conception, in its highest 
form, in the gods man has worshiped. But the gods 
of every unevangelized nation, instead of being re- 
garded by their worshipers as possessed of the at- 
tributes of holiness, have been invested with almost 
every vicious and sinful propensity which has ever 
degraded human nature. As nations have emerged 
from rudest barbarism into a more civilized condi- 
tion, they have, we admit, attained to more elevated 
and chaste conceptions regarding their deities; but, 
the more refined and elevated the conceptions formed 
under the mere light of reason, the less powerful 
have they been, since they are the farther removed 
from affinity for human beings, and the more fully 
relegated to the realm of mere visionary abstractions. 
The gods of Philosophy have been practically no 
better than the gods of heathen and barbarous na- 
tions, so far as impressing men with a distinct and 
adequate sense of righteousness. Nor has Deism 
made a much more favorable showing. In fact, 
everything short of Revealed Religion has been an 
utter failure at this point. 


164 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 
AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT REQUIRED 

As it is utterly impossible for the conviction of sin 
to be wrought in the world, or for a just judgment 
concerning it to be impressed upon any individual 
heart, by any other agency than the Spirit of God, so 
it is in regard to the demonstration of righteousness. 
It is only by the Spirit of God that a deep and thor- 
ough conviction of righteousness can be engraven 
upon individual hearts, or that man can form any 
just conception regarding God’s ideal of virtue. 
Man’s own mind and heart, as we have already seen, 
are incapable, through spiritual blindness and dead- 
ness, of forming such a conception. Nor have any 
other agencies of a natural character been able to 
work out efficiently and sufficiently the demonstration 
of righteousness in the minds of men. “The natural 
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: 
for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 
2 : 14 ). 

It is said that “Poetry culls the fairest flowers of 
human life, and brightens them still more with the 
glowing hues of the imagination.” But Poetry is 
powerless to convince the world of righteousness. 
And, it has been remarked that it never undertakes 
the delineation of a perfect character. This would 
so far divest it of all resemblance to human character 
as to place it beyond the range of human sympathy, 
and render it a shadowy and spiritless abstraction. 
The poetic delineation of a character unstained by 
sin, however great its literary excellence, could 
scarcely attract the world’s attention, and would be 


AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT REQUIRED 1 65 

as inadequate to convince the world of righteousness, 
as the terms red, blue, green, and yellow, would be 
to produce a just conception of the colors they repre- 
sent, in the mind of one who was born blind. 

As vain also are the efforts of Philosophy to work 
in mankind a conviction of righteousness. Her specu- 
lations are wholly unsuited to such a task. She is 
unable of herself to rise above the range of mere 
natural phenomena, and hence is incompetent to pro- 
duce any profound spiritual conviction. She does, 
indeed, pay homage to a God, so-called, but the God 
of Philosophy, as we have already seen, is invested 
with those attributes which are the least peculiarly 
human, and which place him at such a vast remove 
from sympathetic relation to our species, that the 
human mind, in its darkness and helplessness, can 
derive no light or aid from contemplating such a 
Deity. The speculations of Philosophy merge all the 
attributes of the Godhead she adores into abstract 
law, or naked power. 

Philosophy has never yet been able satisfactorily 
to convince herself of righteousness. Hence she has 
been repeatedly shifting from one theory to another, 
and has never been able to fix upon a standard by 
which she could herself abide. At one time she bold- 
ly decrees that “Might is Right in another age she 
makes Intellectual Eminence the criterion of moral 
worth; and then again, she glorifies Genius as the 
synonym of virtue. In one age of the world she un- 
furls the banner of Gnosticism over land and sea, 
and, under the assumption of possessing the true 
Gnosis of the universe, she undertakes to rival Chris- 
tianity in solving the problem of evil, and in estab- 
12 * 


1 66 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

lisking the rule and ground of righteousness. Fail- 
ing in this experiment, another age witnesses her 
marching forth with Agnosticism emblazoned on her 
banner, and audaciously denying the supernatural 
and the spiritual, upon the unphilosophical assump- 
tion that “nothing can be known beyond phenomena.” 

For more than two millenniums Philosophy has 
been experimenting in the matter of endeavoring to 
restore this lapsed and demoralized world to moral 
rectitude and equilibrium. The experiment has been 
a consummate failure, chiefly because of that which 
it has so fully demonstrated, namely, the incompe- 
tence of Philosophy either to convince the world of 
sin, or to produce an adequate conception of right- 
eousness. Whenever, unilluminated and unguided by 
the Spirit of God, she has undertaken to deal with 
moral and spiritual problems, she has either plunged 
into the depths of mysticism and fanatical excess, or 
else has undertaken to degrade everything in the uni- 
verse to the level of gross materialism; in either of 
which instances she virtually abolishes the ground of 
all moral distinctions, and only helps to perpetuate 
the disastrous consequences of the Fall. 

Alike powerless with Poetry and Philosophy is 
mere Natural Keligion to convict the world of right- 
eousness. The religions of the heathen world have 
never been able to afford the spectacle of righteous- 
ness as a living, active reality, nor even to yield a 
true conception of it as an object of contemplation, 
in connection with the objects of its worship. The 
best forms of religion the heathen world has ever 
known, and the best systems of morals it has ever 
adopted, have only proven that the race is so fully 


AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT REQUIRED 


167 


lost to every true idea of righteousness that only He 
who made man upright in the beginning can ever re- 
store him to a conception of the image in which he 
w r as originally made. 

The religions of pagan nations have ever been de- 
structive of morality. A gloomy superstition has 
pervaded most of them, which has fostered ferocious 
and cruel dispositions. Their mysteries, whatever 
may have been their original design, were too hor- 
ribly corrupt to be described. Their temple rites and 
the worship of their gods were associated with every 
species of impurity. Such has been, and such is, the 
tendency of every form of pagan religion. 

This immoral tendency of their religion [says Dr. Rich- 
ard Watson] was confirmed and perfected by the very char- 
acter of their gods, whose names were perpetually in their 
mouths; and whose murderous and obscene exploits, whose 
villanies and chicaneries, whose hatred and strifes were the 
subject of their popular legends ; which made up, in fact, the 
only theology, if so it may be called, of the body of the peo- 
ple. That they should be better than their gods was not to 
be expected, and worse they could not be. Deities with such 
attributes could not but corrupt, and be appealed to, not 
merely to excuse, but to sanctify the worst of practises.* 

The philosophers and moralists of the heathen 
world, while descanting on the excellence of virtue 
and formulating moral codes, have at the same time 
exalted the worst vices of humanity, placing them in 
the list of virtues, and condemned as unmanly weak- 
nesses those dispositions and graces which evidence 
the highest virtue. Cicero taught that one mark of 
a good man is that “he hurts no one except when in- 
jured himself.’’ Concerning himself, he also declared, 


•“Institutes.’ 


1 68 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

“I will revenge all injuries, according as I am pro- 
voked by any.” Aristotle regarded meekness as a 
defect, and revenge as “a more manly thing.” Me- 
nander laid down the rule that “a lie is better than 
a hurtful truth.” Plato, who has been described as 
“of ethereal understanding,” says: “He may lie 
who knows how to do it in a fit season ;” while both 
Plato and the Stoics make a distinction between an 
uttered lie, and a lie otherwise expressed. Deceit and 
falsehood have ever characterized pagan nations, 
having the sanction of their gods, and being consis- 
tent with their religions. 

From these considerations may be seen the neces- 
sity there is that the Spirit of God should under- 
take the task of convincing the world of righteous- 
ness. If this world is ever to be redeemed from its 
present fallen state, if men are ever to be won back 
to the righteousness from which they have fallen, 
there must be not only a conviction of the awful sin- 
fulness and utter wretchedness of the race, but also a 
profound, vital, and spiritual conviction or demon- 
stration of the nature and attainability of righteous- 
ness — of righteousness according to God’s ideal. 
This can be effected by the Holy Ghost alone. 


XVI 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF 
RIGHTEOUSNESS— Continued 

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD 

The sin of which the Comforter was to convince the 
world was the sin of unbelief — of unbelief toward 
Christ. Accordingly He was to convince the world of 
its own sin . But inasmuch as He was to convince 
the world of its own sin, it can not be that He was to 
convince the world of its own righteousness. For in 
convincing it of sin, he convinces it that it has no 
righteousness of its own ; that “the children of men 
are all gone aside; they are all together become 
filthy; there is none that doeth good, no not one” 
(Psalm 14:2, 3). And as the particular sin of 
which the world had to be convinced was a sin which, 
had the world been left to itself, it would never have 
dreamed of as such, so the righteousness of which 
the Spirit of God must convince the world, is a 
righteousness such as the world could never have 
conceived of, but for the convictive ministry of the 
Comforter. As the sin of which men had to be con- 
vinced was the sin of not believing in Christ, so the 
righteousness of which they must be convinced is a 
righteousness which can never come to them save 
through the instrumentality of faith in Christ. 

From the days of the Fathers until the present 
169 


170 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

time learned discussion and criticism have been em- 
ployed in endeavoring to determine whose righteous- 
ness is referred to in the Scripture under considera- 
tion. Numerous and diverse have been the exposi- 
tions given of these words of Christ. The following 
have been gathered from various sources. Tauler’s 
interpretation (based upon the rendering of the 
Greek term by the verb reprove) is, that the Holy 
Ghost will reprove our righteousness — that He will 
make us to know that “our righteousnesses are as 
filthy rags.” But in this interpretation the connec- 
tion is overlooked between the Spirit’s work of con- 
viction, and Christ’s return to the Father. “Of right- 
eousness,” said Jesus, “because I go unto the Father.” 

Augustine regarded the righteousness of which the 
Spirit was to convince the world as the imputed 
righteousness of Christ, the righteousness which the 
believer in Christ receives through Him by faith. But 
as others have already shown, this interpretation 
seems to overlook the primary meaning of the pas- 
sage, and establishes only an arbitrary relation be- 
tween Christ’s withdrawal from the world, and the 
demonstration of righteousness by the Holy Spirit. 

Chrysostom’s interpretation makes the word right- 
eousness refer merely to Christ’s personal righteous- 
ness, or innocence, of which His going to the Father 
was proof. 

Luther regarded the passage in question as ex- 
pressive of that doctrine of justification by faith, 
which he felt especially called to set forth and de- 
fend. Calvin’s exposition of the passage is substan- 
tially the same as Luther’s. 

Dr. Lightfoot interprets the word righteousness as 


THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD 171 

expressing the twofold idea of Christ’s personal and 
inherent righteousness, and of his communicated or 
justifying righteousness. 

Adam Clarke adopts the historical view of Chrysos- 
tom, and interprets the righteousness of which the 
Comforter is to convince the world, as the personal 
holiness and innocence of Christ. This is the view 
adopted by many Armenian divines, some of whom, 
be it said with profound regret, have reduced the un- 
fathomable mystery of the Spirit’s convictive opera- 
tion as herein described to a level with the interpreta- 
tion given by Socinus himself. They make it appear 
as though our blessed Lord were merely a good man, 
and a martyr to a good cause, whose righteousness 
and sufferings in this world were to be remunerated 
in the next ; while Socinus does not lower our Lord’s 
words more than this, when he says : “Of righteous- 
ness , because it is righteous, or was, that Christ 
whom they had treated so shamefully, should be re- 
moved from the sight of men, and never be beheld by 
them.” 

The only key to the correct interpretation of the 
words, “He shall convince the world of righteous- 
ness,” is found in the tenth verse, where our Lord 
says, by way of explanation, “Of righteousness, be- 
cause I go to the Father, and ye see Me no more” 
Now Christ’s going to the Father could in no way 
be a proof of the world’s righteousness. “On the con- 
trary, it was the fullest, completest, most damnatory 
of all proofs of the world’s unrighteousness and iniq- 
uity.” And if it be said that the Spirit is to “ re- 
prove ” the world of its own righteousness, as hollow, 
superficial, hypocritical, and unworthy of the name, 


172 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

it may be said that this interpretation fails to mani- 
fest the connection between the Spirit’s ministry of 
reproof and Christ’s departure to the Father. The 
plain meaning of our Lord seems to be this : 

My departure to be with the Father (which departure we 
are to understand as including His death, resurrection, and 
ascension) will demonstrate My righteousness, and attach 
the Divine sanction to My doctrine and example as the 
Divine standard of righteousness. It will manifest the only 
ground upon which men who are convinced of sin can become 
righteous before God ; and will be a standing proof to the 
universe of the righteousness of the Divine administration 
in offering pardon to a guilty world. Having thus finished 
My redemptive ministry; having spoken the Word and 
shown the example of righteousness ; having made expiation 
for sin; having manifested the righteousness of the Divine 
administration ; and having ascended to the Father in token 
of His satisfaction with My finished work; the Comforter 
will come, and, under the economy which He will introduce, 
“will begin a great spiritual process, by which My outward 
and visible work will receive spiritual illumination and expo- 
sition.” 

It is the mission of the Comforter to convince the 
world, not of its own righteousness, of which it has 
none, but of the righteousness of Him who came to 
redeem it. The outward demonstration of this has 
been given to the world in the resurrection and 
ascension of our Lord. The inward spiritual convic- 
tion of the same must be wrought among men by the 
Holy Ghost. To this end Christ withdrew Himself 
from the sight of men, and ascended to the Father. 
The outward and visible demonstration was insuffi- 
cient. It might, to some extent, convince the intel- 
lect, but could never of itself convince the heart. 
While Christ was on earth “the light was shining 


THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD 


173 


in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not” 
(John 1:5). “He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and 
separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26) ; yet “He was 
despised and rejected of men” (Isa. 53: 3). “He did 
no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth” (1 
Peter 2: 22), yet He was condemned and crucified as 
a malefactor. He challenged the Jews to convince 
Him of sin, and they could prove nothing against 
Him, though determined to crucify Him. Pilate 
thrice examined Him and declared plainly : “I find 
no fault in Him;” and when he would have released 
Jesus, the unbelieving Jews cried out: “Not this 
man, but Barabbas” — thus desiring a murderer to 
be granted unto them, and demanding the crucifix- 
ion of the immaculate Son of God. 

Thus the world denied Christ’s claim to righteous- 
ness, disputed His profession of Messiahship, de- 
clared Him to be an execrable impostor, and finally 
seemed to have triumphed in its attempted demon- 
stration of His unrighteousness, by His crucifixion. 
While Christ’s body was on the cross and in the 
sepulchre, it seemed to the world, and even to those 
who had been with Him as disciples through all His 
ministry, and who “trusted that it had been He 
which should have redeemed Israel,” that His cause 
had suffered inglorious and irremediable defeat. But 
just when it seemed that the world had triumphed, 
and had demonstrated the falsity of Christ’s profes- 
sion, thus putting an end to the religion He had 
sought to e’stablish, the grandest demonstration of 
His holiness and of His Messiahship was given to the 
world by His resurrection from the dead. If He were 
“the Prince of life,” He could not possibly “see cor- 


174 A S COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

ruption.” If He were the world’s Bedeemer, He 
could not possibly be held under the dominion of 
death, any more than the sun can be bound with a 
chain of darkness. He had declared before His cru- 
cifixion that He would demonstrate His righteous- 
ness and authority by His resurrection from the dead. 
(John 2: 18-21.) His disciples in their sorrow seem 
to have forgotten this. Hope well nigh expires 
within their breasts, while the body of Jesus reposes 
in the tomb. But on the morning of the third day, 
the angel of the Lord descends and rolls away the 
stone with which the sepulchre was sealed, and the 
risen Christ comes forth as the Conqueror of 
Death ! Now, “the Stone which the builders refused 
is made the head of the corner” (Psa. 118: 22). Thus 
Christ is “declared to be the Son of God with power, 
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrec- 
tion from the dead” (Bom. 1:4). 

As death, the grim specter which ever follows in- 
separably at the heels of sin, fled before this mighty 
Prince and Conqueror, it follows that such a Con- 
queror must needs be also without sin — “the Holy 
One of God.” And as Jesus ascended into heaven to 
dwell in the bosom of the everlasting Father, He gave 
the strongest proof thereby that He had fulfilled all 
righteousness, since only the pure in heart can see 
God — none but the perfectly holy can be admitted to 
His glorious presence. Christ’s pure and perfect 
righteousness enabled Him, through His own merit , 
to enter within the vail, and stand as our Bepresenta- 
tive and Advocate before the throne of God. And now 
we who have sinned “have an Advocate with the 
Father, even Jesus Christ the Bighteous.” 


THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD 


175 


The outpouring of the Holy Spirit consequent upon 
Christ’s departure from the world was a proof that 
He had ascended to the Father — that God had “ex- 
alted Him,” whom the world rejected, “to be a 
Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, 
and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). And the mis- 
sion of the Comforter now is to testify of Christ, as 
our resurrected and glorified Redeemer. He con- 
vinces men that, in their obstinate refusal to believe 
on Christ, consists the great, the damning sin of the 
race; and, that He may the more effectually con- 
vince them of the desperate wickedness of this unbe- 
lief, He also convinces them of the pure, perfect, spot- 
less righteousness of Christ, whom the world by un- 
belief is still rejecting. 

The conviction of sin and the conviction of right- 
eousness, therefore, necessarily accompany each 
other. They can not be divorced, as neither is ac- 
complishable without the other. It is by contrast 
with Christ’s stainless purity and perfect obedience 
that we the more clearly discern our own utter sin- 
fulness and hopelessly fallen state ; and it is the con- 
viction of our own sinfulness that brings us where we 
can recognize a perfection of righteousness in Christ 
which fully meets the Divine ideal, and which, while 
necessary to us, can never be attained except it be 
communicated to us from above. 

IN THIS PART OF HIS CONVICTIVE MISSION THE SPIRIT 
ACTS AS COMFORTER 

The Holy Spirit in convincing the world of right- 
eousness deports Himself as the Divine Comforter . 


I76 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

The appropriateness of the title by which our Lord 
designates Him in His convictive mission may, at 
first, seem questionable. Yet He is rightly called the 
Comforter in reference to this particular ministry, 
and especially in reference to that part of it which 
we are now considering — the conviction of righteous- 
ness. 

To convince the world of Christ’s righteousness is 
to produce an overwhelming demonstration of the 
world’s all-pervading sinfulness. This might seem 
designed to cast men down into the horror of despair. 
It would be thus, were it not that, in convincing the 
world of Christ’s perfect righteousness, He reveals 
that righteousness, as it is fundamentally related to 
the Atonement, and to Christ’s priestly ministry in 
heaven. He convinces us that Christ’s righteousness 
enabled Him to offer unto God an acceptable sacri- 
fice for the sins of the whole world, and then to 
ascend into heaven there to present the merits of that 
sacrifice in behalf of all who should believe on Him, 
that He might procure for them the remission of sins, 
and the gift of the Holy Spirit to renew and sanctify 
their natures. Thus Christ’s righteousness becomes 
the righteousness of all who will give up the sin of 
unbelief, and, by faith appropriate to themselves the 
virtue of His Atonement, and receive Him into their 
hearts as their King and Savior. It is by convincing 
us that Christ’s righteousness is our righteousness, 
not only by imputation, but by impartation, provided 
we believe on Him, that the Holy Spirit affords us 
heavenly and everlasting comfort. “This is the name 
whereby He shall be called: The Lord our right- 
eousness” (Jer. 23:6). 


AS COMFORTER IN HIS CONVICTIVE MISSION 177 

Christ came not into this world to lead a pure and 
holy life for His own sake. He w T as adored in heaven 
from all eternity as the High and Holy One. He 
dwelt in the bosom of the everlasting Father, and 
was an equal sharer in all the glory of the Godhead. 
“He was rich,” says St. Paul, “but for your sakes He 
became poor, that ye through His poverty might be 
made rich.” 

He brought His righteousness down to earth and 
manifested it amid the moral darkness and the uni- 
versal wickedness of this world for our sakes — that 
we might become partakers of that righteousness, 
and that He might thereby exalt us with Himself to 
be partakers of His own glory. He said, concerning 
those who believe on Him, “For their sakes I sanctify 
Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the 
truth” (John 17:19). 

When, by sin, this world had been plunged into 
moral night and ruin, and “a horror of great dark- 
ness” had fallen upon the entire race, through which 
man could not look up to God and heaven, and 
through which no ray of celestial light could pene- 
trate to earth; then “the [eternal] Word was made 
flesh, and dwelt among us [and we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father] , full 
of grace and truth” (John 1: 14). He took our na- 
ture upon Himself, that He might make us partakers 
of His own. (2 Peter 1:4.) He came and dwelt amid 
the darkness of the world, that He might be the Light 
of the world — that He might chase its darkness for- 
ever away. When the sun rises and pursues his 
course through the heavens, like a strong man girded 
for a race, it is not for his own sake, it is not merely 


178 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

to convince the world that he himself is light ; but it 
is rather that he may disperse his light abroad upon 
those orbs which otherwise must remain enveloped 
in eternal darkness — it is that other worlds may be 
partakers of his light with all its gracious influences. 
So, when Jesus Christ appeared in this world as “the 
Sun of Righteousness,” His righteousness was to be 
manifested until its light encircled the earth and 
filled the heavens, — not merely to convince the world 
that He Himself was “the Holy One of God,” but in 
order that He might bestow that righteousness on 
all who, beholding it, would open their hearts to re- 
ceive it, as the flowers of earth unfold themselves to 
welcome the sunlight which gives them their rich and 
variegated hues. 

CONVICTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS MUST PRECEDE THE 
EXPERIENCE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

Before “the righteousness of God” can be wrought 
in us, however, there must be produced in us such a 
lively conviction thereof as shall give us the deepest 
sense of our own utter sinfulness, and the keenest 
realization that Christ is “the righteousness of God” 
for us — the only righteousness in which we can ever 
stand accepted before God. “For Christ is the end 
of the law for righteousness to every one that be- 
lieveth.” The Holy Spirit alone can produce this 
conviction; and because Christ has gone to the 
Father and the world seeth Him no more, the Com- 
forter has been sent into the world to carry out this 
work of spiritual conviction in the hearts of men. 
Christ, having, through His own perfect righteous- 


MUST PRECEDE EXPERIENCE OP RIGHTEOUSNESS 1 79 

ness, “entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the 
presence of God for us,” has procured for us “the 
Spirit of holiness,” whom He sends to convince us 
that the righteousness in which He ascended to the 
Father, is our righteousness; i. e., the righteousness 
which is to descend upon us from Him, as Elijah’s 
mantle fell upon Elisha, and which is to be perfected 
in us by the operation of the indwelling Comforter, 
on the condition of our reliance upon it as the only 
ground of our justification before God. 

The righteousness of which the Spirit of God must 
convince the world, then, is what St. Paul terms, “ the 
righteousness which is of God by faith” It is a 
righteousness which descends from God, which is 
given through Christ, and which is received only by 
faith. The withdrawal of Christ from human gaze, 
and His spiritual manifestation by the ministry of 
the Comforter, render it easier for us to make His 
righteousness our own, since it aids in the production 
of that faith by which alone we can be made right- 
eous. Were Christ always manifest to our senses, we 
should live and walk by sight rather than by faith, 
since sight, as belonging to the realm of sense, dis- 
turbs faith, and tends to its destruction. Faith, to 
exert its full power, must be purely and wholly 
faith — faith unmixed with sense , and hence, not par- 
taking of its frailties. That love which springs from 
faith in an unseen object of affection is always 
stronger than that which results from actual vision 
of the object. This is true of man in his present state, 
owing to the infirmity and imperfection of his sensu- 
ous nature. The disciples loved their Master while 
He was with them in the flesh, but it was with a mix- 


l8o AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

• 

ture of grossness in their affection which was the re- 
sult of their fleshly infirmity. But when they could 
see Him no more after a fleshly manner, faith, which 
is the eye of the soul, began to open to them a spiri- 
tual manifestation of Christ, and as they appre- 
hended the invisible Lord through the operation of 
faith, their love toward Him became pure, strong, 
holy, heavenly, and imperishable. Thus they beheld 
in Him a glory and perfection of which they could 
form no adequate conception while they knew Him 
only as an object of sight. And thus beholding the 
invisibly glorious Christ, they were “changed into the 
same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit 
of the Lord.” This faith also filled them with assur- 
ance and joyfulness. Hence the language of St. 
Peter: “Whom having not seen we love; in whom, 
though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice 
with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the 
end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls” 
(1 Peter 1:8-10). 

When our love springs from the root of faith, then alone 
may it hope to blossom through eternity. In like manner, 
when our righteousness springs from the root of faith, then 
will it flourish in the courts of the temple of God. For what 
is our righteousness, when it comes to us through faith? 
It is not ours but Christ’s : and every thing that is Christ’s 
is well-pleasing in the eyes of God. By faith we pass out of 
this world of sense. By faith we put off our carnal nature, 
and put on a new spiritual nature, through which we shall 
not be found naked. By faith we receive the power to cast 
away our sins, and to live a life of holiness and love. 
Through faith, giving ear to the voice of the Comforter, the 
evil spirit is driven out of us, as he was driven out of Saul 
by the harp of David. Through faith we are lifted out of 
ourselves. Through faith we cease to be specks of foam, 


MUST PRECEDE EXPERIENCE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS l8l 


dashed along the furrows of the homeless wave. Through 
faith we become members of the everlasting body of Christ ; 
the Spirit of Christ passes into us; and thus in the fulness 
of time we too shall go with Him to His Father.* 

♦Hare’s “Mission of the Comforter.” 


XVII 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF 
JUDGMENT 

The convictive work of the Comforter is threefold. 
Coexistent with the conviction of sin and of right- 
eousness the conviction of judgment is wrought in 
the hearts of men. The world in its natural condi- 
tion is utterly wanting in a just conception of these 
three things. “Darkness covereth the earth, and 
gross darkness the people.” In order, therefore, to 
the recovery of the world from moral ruin, this three- 
fold conviction must be wrought by the Spirit of God. 

The conviction in respect of judgment is as neces- 
sary as the conviction of sin and of righteousness, 
since without the conviction of judgment, the con- 
viction of sin and the conviction of righteousness 
would be of no avail. 

THE world's CONCEPTION OF MORAL DIFFERENCES 

The world has ever had some conception of moral 
differences, of right and wrong, of good and bad; 
but the trouble has always been that its estimate of 
these things has been based upon mere external 
appearances, and hence its judgment concerning 
character has shown regard for the most obvious dif- 
ferences only, “having no reference to those deep, 
spiritual elements and facts which underlie and 
182 


world's conception of moral differences 183 

account for all human conduct/’ Its theory of judg- 
ment (if, indeed, its notion of moral differences is 
entitled to be called a theory of judgment) has ever 
been as imperfect and erroneous as have been its con- 
ceptions of sin and righteousness. Hence the impera- 
tive need that the Holy Ghost should come, and, 
directing the attention of men to Calvary, convince 
them in the light of that Cross on which the Re- 
deemer of men expired, regarding “the judgment of 
this world.” 

Until men are fully convinced that this world is 
under judgment or condemnation, they will persis- 
tently cleave to sin and continue to pursue the way 
to death. In fact, until then they can never rightly 
estimate the enormity of sin, the guiltiness of man- 
kind, or the awfulness of the world’s impending 
doom. The conviction of judgment makes the convic- 
tion of sin and of righteousness more clear and com- 
plete, and the conviction of sin and of righteousness 
prepares the mind for the conviction of judgment. To 
convince the world of the nature of sin, and of the 
universal depravity of the human family, and then to 
convince it of the pure, perfect, and everlasting right- 
eousness of Christ as the only righteousness which is 
acceptable to God and in which men can stand be- 
fore Him in peace; would, if unaccompanied by the 
conviction of judgment, be insufficient to make men 
feel their own personal guilt in such a degree as 
would move them to repentance toward God. Until 
the conviction of judgment is wrought in them by the 
Spirit of God, men, though admitting their sinful- 
ness, are prone to excuse their wrong-doing on the 
ground that they were born in sin, that they are in 


184 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 

an evil world, and that they are unable to escape or 
overcome the power of temptation. 

Satan has usurped the government of this world, 
and has bound men with the chains of sin, from 
which they are powerless of themselves to break 
away. Men may be convinced of this fact, but if 
they have no further conviction, they will never 
realize their own guilt and condemnation for remain- 
ing in a sinful state. 

But, if they can be convinced that he who bound 
them with their chains is judged (or cast out from 
his seat of usurped authority over men), and that 
the chains of sin have been broken so that men need 
be in bondage to sin no more, they will then begin 
to realize that their sin is without excuse or mitiga- 
tion. They will then begin to see and feel that they 
are servants of the wicked one from deliberate choice, 
and that therefore his judgment and condemnation 
as their head and ruler, is their judgment and con- 
demnation, justly merited, because of their voluntary 
consent to his dominion over them. 

THE SPIRIT TO PRODUCE THIS CONVICTION 

To produce such a conviction in the minds of men 
is the work of the Holy Ghost. He shows them that 
this was the meaning of Christ’s conquest in the 
Temptation, of His asserted authority over evil 
spirits in His ministry, and of His crucifixion, and 
His resurrection from the dead. “For this purpose 
the Son of God was manifested that He might de- 
stroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). “For 
what the law could not do, in that it was weak 


THE JUDGMENT OF SATAN 


185 


through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the 
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned [liter- 
ally, gave judgment against ] sin in the flesh: that the 
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who 
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 
8 : 3 , 4 ). 


THE JUDGMENT OF SATAN 

Christ’s righteousness was not manifested in order 
merely to reveal the sin of the world, but in order to 
cast it out , to scatter and confound it, to drive it 
forever away. When He came among men to inaugu- 
rate a war against sin it was not to the end that the 
victory should be doubtful and incomplete, but that 
it might be made certain and all-comprehensive. 
When He left the bosom of the Father and came to 
our world, it was not to share its dominion with 
Satan, the Usurper. He came rather to overthrow 
Satan, and to cast him out of his seat of empire. 
Yea, and He did overthrow him, and forever cast 
him out. The contest was a fearful one, but Christ 
achieved the victory. He wrested the sceptre from 
Apollyon, cast him from the throne of evil, and waved 
His own sword of Light before Him in token of com- 
plete victory. 

“So after many a fail the tempter proud, 

Renewing fresh assaults, amidst his pride, 

Fell whence he stood to see his Victor fall.” 

Christ’s mission on earth was to judge, or cast out, 
sin and Satan, and potentially He has judged and 
cast them out. And now the Comforter, who suc- 
ceeds the visible manifestation of Christ, convinces 


l86 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 

the world of judgment “ because the prince of this 
world hath been judged.” 

That the foregoing interpretation of the Scripture 
under consideration is the correct one will be made 
more fully evident by reference to our Lord’s words 
on the same subject as recorded in John, 12th Chap- 
ter, beginning with the 27th verse: “Now is my soul 
troubled: and what shall I* say? Father, save me 
from this hour ? But for this cause came I unto this 
hour. Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there 
a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, 
and will glorify it again. The people therefore that 
stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered : others 
said, An angel spake unto Him. Jesus answered and 
said, This voice came not because of Me, but for your 
sakes. Now is the judgment (crisis) of this world: 
now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And 
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He 
should die.” 

The first thing to be determined in ascertaining 
the meaning of this passage is, who our Lord meant 
by “the prince of this world.” By reference to John 
14 : 30, we find our Lord using the expression as 
descriptive of Satan. He says: “The prince of this 
world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” “The 
epithet, ‘prince of this world,’ ” says Dr. Adam 
Clarke, “is repeatedly applied to the devil (referring 
to its use among the Jews) or to Samael, who is 
termed the angel of death. The Jews fabled that 
into the hands of this chief God had delivered all 
nations of the earth except the Israelites.” That 
which called forth from our Lord the utterances we 


THE JUDGMENT OF SATAN 


187 


are considering, was the information given Him by 
Andrew and Philip that certain Greeks were desir- 
ous to see Him. Jesus tells them that “The hour is 
come that the Son of man should be glorified” (Ver. 
23), and then in the 32nd verse says, “I, if I be lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all men [Gentiles as 
well as Jews] unto Me.” 

The reference then is plainly to the calling of the 
Gentiles, and the breaking down of “the middle wall 
of partition” which separated them from the seed of 
Abraham, by which Jews and Gentiles were to be 
gathered into one fold. It is only reasonable to sup- 
pose, therefore, that in the instance before us our 
Lord used the appellation, “prince of this world,” in 
the same sense in which He used it on that other oc- 
casion when it manifestly applied to Satan. Satan 
is elsewhere called “the god of this world,” and “the 
prince of the power of the air, the Spirit that now 
worketh in the hearts of the children of disobedience.” 
We may fairly conclude, therefore, that when our 
Lord says, “the prince of this world is judged,” He 
refers to Satan who has usurped the empire of the 
world, and that his judgment is his condemnation 
and his expulsion from the throne he has usurped. 

“Now is the judgment of this world: now is the 
prince of this world judged.” This was said by our 
Lord in view of what was about to transpire on Cal- 
vary. “The prince of this world” had exerted his 
dominion to draw the world away from the recogni- 
tion of God’s authority and glory. The Father’s 
name was now to be glorified on earth again, in that 
His only-begotten Son was to be lifted up from the 
earth, on the Cross indeed, but “to His throne on 


l88 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 

the Cross,” notwithstanding ! And from that throne 
He was to exert a power that should overthrow Satan 
and cast him out from the hearts of men, and finally 
from the world; — a power that should draw this 
Satan-ruled world back to its proper allegiance to 
Jehovah. 

There is nothing [says the Rev. Wye Smith, in a brief news- 
paper comment on this passage] of judicial trial and con- 
demnation in this verse. It is not that the world shall be 
judged, as it shall be judged at the last day. If the 
word crisis had been as thoroughly recognized among us as a 
word of our own language, three centuries ago, as it is now, it 
would have been used here, instead of the word judgment. 
For that is the original word here ( Icrisis ). 

It just means this : That now the time had come when it 
should be seen whether Christ was to accomplish His mis- 
sion to this earth, or whether Satan should be victorious. 
The crisis of this world’s affairs had arrived ! We have to 
thank God that when the crisis came Jesus defeated Satan 
and his plans, and made it possible, by His Atonement, for 
all men to be saved. (1 Tim. 2:4.) 

JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD 

Christ is now enthroned above the world, and with 
His own blood, has purchased the right to sway the 
sceptre of supreme authority upon the earth. He 
has conquered Satan, has judged him, and has poten- 
tially cast him out, by the establishment of a new 
government, a kingdom of righteousness, an ever- 
lasting dominion over the sons of men. And in this 
judgment of Satan is included the judgment of the 
world also. The two are inseparable. “This world,” 
by which we understand those who continue to ac- 
knowledge the dominion of Satan, “is judged” in the 


JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD 


189 


judgment of its head, or “prince.” And all now who 
continue in sin do so by a willing or deliberate recog- 
nition of Satan as their prince ; and accordingly must 
with him be finally “cast out.” Such are deliberate 
rebels against the authority of heaven, they are al- 
ready judged and condemned, and are awaiting the 
execution of the sentence which shall cast them for 
ever from God’s glorious presence. 

In the year 1860 a rebellion broke out in this na- 
tion. Jefferson Davis was its chief representative, 
or head. He became instrumental in organizing a 
confederation of States with a view to destroying 
the Union. Abraham Lincoln, the Chief Executive 
of our nation, found it necessary to issue a proclama- 
tion of war to crush the rising rebellion, and to de- 
feat and overthrow the usurper and traitor. The 
sovereign voice of the nation, expressed in the issue 
of the long and bloody conflict, judged Davis as a 
rebel and traitor. His judgment involved the judg- 
ment of all who were confederate with him in his act 
of rebellion. They were involved in treason as well 
as he. When the usurper was judged he was cast 
out of the seat of authority he had usurped. The re- 
bellion and all connected with it were cast out. Only 
by a process of Reconstruction were those who had 
rebelled restored to the rights of citizenship. 

Satan is the prince and leader of an organized 
rebellion against the government of God. His first 
rebellion was in heaven, from whence he was cast out 
and fell like lightning, drawing down from that fair 
world all who were confederate with him. He next 
attempted to establish a kingdom in this world which 
should rival the kingdom of God. He was more art- 


190 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 

ful than in his first rebellion, and seemed for a time 
to have accomplished his purpose. But when the 
fulness of time had come, God sent forth His only 
begotten Son into our world, to judge this arch- 
traitor of the universe, to wrest the dominion of the 
world from him, and to cast out the chief of this re- 
bellion with all of his confederates. The battle for 
the sovereignty of this world culminated in the cru- 
cifixion, which, though a seeming victory for Satan, 
was really his judgment and his overthrow. 
“Through death Christ destroyed [rendered power- 
less'] him that had the power of death” (Heb. 2: 14). 
Having through death destroyed the power of Satan, 
our Lord arose from the dead — an Almighty Prince 
and Conqueror! 

The prince of this rebellion is now judged, and by 
judicial sentence cast out. The full execution of the 
sentence is delayed that God may carry out His pur- 
poses of grace toward the children of men w T ho are 
involved in this judgment. Christ is reconstructing 
God’s government over this world, and offers an am- 
nesty to all who have rebelled, provided they will 
renounce their allegiance to the prince who has led 
them in their rebellion against God, confess their 
guilt, and accept Him who was crucified for the 
world’s redemption as their King and Savior. Christ, 
by His death, has made their reconciliation to God 
possible. By. His resurrection from the dead He has 
proven His ability to save and His right to reign. 
And having ascended on high, that He might conduct 
the affairs of this world from a higher level and by 
an invisible spiritual agency, He has sent forth the 
Holy Spirit to convince the world of sin, righteous- 


RELATED TO DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST 191 

ness, and judgment, that, being thus convinced, men 
may be persuaded to accept His overtures, be lib- 
erated from the dominion of Satan, and thus escape 
the final judgment which shall cast the prince of 
darkness and all who are confederate with him “into 
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his 
angels.” 

JUDGMENT RELATED TO THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION 
OF CHRIST 

When our Lord says of the Comforter, “He shall 
convince the world of judgment, because the prince 
of this world hath been judged,” He evidently has 
reference to the overthrow of Satan’s empire in this 
world, the casting down of the prince of darkness 
from his seat of authority over the souls of men, and 
the final expulsion of the Evil One and all his con- 
federates from this world where he has so long 
wrought wreck and ruin. When Christ arose from 
the dead, this judgment of the prince of darkness was 
effected so far as the demonstration of the fact was 
concerned. In His resurrection He laid the corner- 
stone of a new government, and demonstrated His 
own kingly authority — His everlasting Kingship over 
this world. The principles of His government are 
those righteous, spiritual principles which were 
enunciated by His teaching and illustrated by His 
life. Accordingly the judgment of this world in the 
judgment of its prince involves the condemnation of 
all those selfish principles and forms of worldly life 
which were introduced by and are characteristic of 
the reign of Satan. In the light of Christ’s doctrine, 


192 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 

life, and death, men are now to be convinced that the 
prevailing spirit of the world is judged and con- 
demned. The selfishness which dictates the facti- 
tious manners of the world; the base aims and mo- 
tives of worldly minds ; and all the evil thoughts and 
ways of unregenerate men; are condemned by that 
standard of living and motive of action which Christ 
established as the foundation principle of His King- 
dom. All, therefore, who are under the dominion of 
selfishness, pride, hatred, covetousness, lust, or love 
of the world, are still under the dominion of Satan, 
and that from deliberate choice ; hence they are in the 
same judgment and condemnation with the prince of 
darkness, to whom they yield their willing allegiance. 
The full conviction of this awful truth is a conviction 
which the Holy Ghost alone can produce in the souls 
of men. 


XVIII 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF 
JUDGMENT — Continued 

In this conviction, which makes men know and feel 
that if they continue to live in sin, they are 

WITHOUT EXCUSE 

they have a sense of being condemned already, and 
of being kept out of hell only by the longsuffering of 
God. The Gospel reveals this truth — by the im- 
pression of the Spirit men are made to feel and 
realize it. Thus they are convinced that the ruling 
spirit of the world is condemned, inasmuch as “the 
prince of this world is judged and that not to be- 
lieve in Christ and obey the Gospel, identifies them 
with the prince of this world, as his willing subjects, 
and as heirs with him of the wrath of God. The con- 
demnation of the world turns on its refusal to be- 
lieve in Christ, on its rejection of the light which He 
imparts, and on its choice of those principles and 
motives which He has judged and condemned. 

This explains the meaning of such Scriptures as 
the following: 

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the 
world; but that the world through Him might be saved. 
He that believeth on Him is not condemned ; but he that 
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not be- 


193 


194 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 

lieved in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And 
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, 
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, 
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds 
may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. 
(John 3: 17-21.) 

The word here translated condemnation is the same 
word which is rendered judgment in the passage we 
are considering in this chapter. Again : 

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the 
world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father 
is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the 
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not 
of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth 
away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of 
God abideth for ever. (1 John 2: 15-17.) 

And again: 

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the 
friendship of the world is enmity with God ? whosoever there- 
fore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 
(James 4:4.) 

Since the prince of this world is judged, those who 
submit to his dominion and are controlled by the 
principles of his government are also judged as God’s 
enemies, and are involved in the same fearful con- 
demnation as the prince under whose dominion they 
are serving. 


EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THIS CONVICTION 

While to those who are under his dominion the 
conviction that “the prince of this world is judged” 


EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THIS CONVICTION I95 

is designed to produce terror and sorrow, the same 
revelation and assurance are “glad tidings” to those 
who have escaped from his thraldom and have been 
reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

A glad sight was it to the children of Israel when they 
saw the host of Pharaoh swallowed up by the waters of the 
Red Sea. Thus, when the children of our spiritual Israel 
have been convinced of sin and of righteousness by the Com- 
forter, when they have thus been brought to loathe the land 
of sin and to fly from it, He delivers them from the fear of 
their pursuers by convincing them that Pharaoh and all his 
host, the prince of this world, and his whole legion of sins, 
have been swallowed up for those who believe in Christ and 
are clothed with His righteousness, in the blood which flowed 
from the Cross. “Glad tidings” indeed must this be, glad 
and comfortable tidings, so that they who are convinced 
thereof are ready to cry out in the words of Miriam : “Sing 
ye to the Lord ! for He hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse 
and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.” Yes, Death, 
and the pale horse Sin — pale and ghostly now that it is 
seen in its true colors — hath He cast down and buried forever 
in His victorious grave.* 

In judging the prince of this world and casting him 
out, our Lord achieved for all who believe on Him 
the complete conquest of sin — that power by which 
Satan rules his subjects. In this judgment of Satan 
He gave the pledge that sin should be forever cast out 
from the souls of all His saints — of all who become 
partakers of His glorious redemption. In this also 
is the ground and guarantee, not only of their recon- 
ciliation to God, and of their justification before 
Him, but of their entire sanctification — their full 
deliverance “from the corruption that is in the world 
through lust.” 

♦Archdeacon Hare in “Mission of the Comforter.” 


I96 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 
THE GENERAL JUDGMENT 

While the conviction of judgment which is wrought 
by the Comforter does not, as we have seen, primarily 
have reference to that judicial trial, or that public 
administration of justice, which is to take place at 
the end of the world, and which is to appoint the 
eternal destinies of men, it does, nevertheless, bear a 
close relation to that final adjustment of the affairs 
of this world which is usually termed the General 
Judgment. The judgment which is already passed 
upon the prince of this world and all his subjects 
sustains a relation to the final judgment similar to 
that which the conviction and sentence of a crim- 
inal before a civil tribunal sustains to the execution 
of the sentence pronounced upon him. The convicted 
criminal is already judged, in the sense of being con- 
demned, and the principles of justice which de- 
termine his present condemnation are the same prin- 
ciples of justice which will be magnified in the final 
execution of judgment upon him. Even so the prin- 
ciples which determine the present judgment and 
condemnation of the unbelieving world are the very 
same principles upon which the final judgment of the 
world will be administered. 

In convincing the world of judgment, therefore, 
the Comforter not only demonstrates the fact that, 
by the Atonement of Christ, the prince of this world 
is judged, and that with him all who serve him are 
placed under judicial sentence also; but beginning 
with this, He carries on this work of conviction until 
the minds of men are profoundly impressed with the 
certainty of a general and final judgment. He so 


THE GENERAL JUDGMENT 


197 


fully convinces men of a future judgment, that while 
they continue in their sins, they realize that nothing 
remains for them but “a certain, fearful looking for 
of judgment and of fiery indignation, which shall de- 
vour the adversaries” (Heb. 10:27). 

Christ taught the doctrine of a General Judgment, 
and also laid down and illustrated the principles 
upon which the final judgment of the world is to be 
administered. The Comforter, in His convictive mis- 
sion, brings to the remembrance of men these teach- 
ings of Christ, and impresses their minds with a pro- 
found apprehension of their spiritual import. Under 
His illumination the world discerns the meaning of 
Christ’s temptation, the purport of His answers to 
Satan in the wilderness, and the deep significance of 
those remarkable discriminations in human character 
with which the Master startled the great and wise 
men of His day. He shows men that when Christ 
preferred the publican to the Pharisee, the widow’s 
mites to the abundant offerings of the wealthy, the 
wretchedness of Lazarus to the affluence of Dives, 
the tears of “a woman which was a sinner” to the 
vain works and professions of Simon the Pharisee, 
He was only revealing and illustrating the principles 
which will enter into the administration of judgment 
in the last great day of assize. In that day a cup of 
cold water having been given in the name of a dis- 
ciple, shall in no wise fail of its reward; while the 
man who has bestowed all his goods to feed the poor, 
and who has given his body to be burned, if he shall 
be found to have done these things without the love 
of Christ as the constraining motive, shall have no 
profit from all his sacrifice. Then the King will say 

14 


198 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 


to those who, prompted by His Spirit, have fed the 
hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick, comforted 
the sorrowing, and relieved the distressed, “Inasmuch 
as ye did it to one of the least of these ye did it unto 
Me.” Likewise to those who have failed in these 
offices of brotherly love, kindness, and sympathy: 
“Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of 
these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away 
into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into 
life eternal” (Matt. 25: 31-46). 


THE WORLD^S THEORY OF JUDGMENT REFUTED 

In His ministry of conviction the Comforter 
throws such an illumination upon these teachings of 
Christ, and so impresses them upon the minds of men, 
as convincingly to refute the world’s theory of judg- 
ment, and profoundly to impress the world with the 
fact, that, in His final judgment of the race, God 
will not rest His decisions upon those human appear- 
ances and differences which are most obvious to men, 
but will have reference to those hidden motives of 
action, and to those deep spiritual elements and 
facts which underlie and account for all human 
conduct. He will give such an exposition of the doc- 
trine and example of Christ, as will convince the 
world of judgment, and as will reveal the work of 
Christ, “not as the broken column which it now ap- 
pears to be, not a failure, not a humiliating over- 
throw, but the beginning of a kingdom fair as the sun 
and everlasting as the heavens.” 


IN HIS CONVICTION THE SPIRIT ACTS AS COMFORTER 199 

IN HIS CONVICTION OF JUDGMENT THE SPIRIT ACTS AS 
COMFORTER 

In the conviction of judgment, as in the conviction 
of sin and of righteousness, the Spirit of God also 
acts as Comforter . There could be no experience of 
real, stable comfort, unless the conviction of judg- 
ment were added to the conviction of sin and of 
righteousness. Until men are convinced of judgment 
they will not repent. This conviction is the great 
motive to repentance. Hence St. Paul, in preaching 
to the philosophers at Athens, said, “The times of 
this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth 
all men everywhere to repent; because He hath ap- 
pointed a day in which He will judge the world in 
righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained : 
whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in 
that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17 : 
30, 31). Indeed, the conviction of judgment is 
wrought by the Comforter to the end that men who 
are under judgment and condemnation may, by “re- 
pentance toward God and faith toward our Lord 
Jesus Christ,” avail themselves of the merciful pro- 
vision made for their reconciliation to God, and thus 
be able to stand with meek and humble confidence In 
the final day adjudication, and when the sentence of 
the Divine Law shall go forth over all the generations 
of mankind. To those who, under the conviction of 
sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, cast away the 
sin of unbelief and give up their hearts and minds to 
a living faith in Christ, thereby seeking to be clothed 
with and conformed to His righteousness — to all 


202 AS COMFORTER CONVICTING OF JUDGMENT 
3 . A WORK OF THE AGES 

To convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, 
and of judgment is not the work of a mere day, but 
is rather a work of the ages. God never hurries His 
work in nature or in grace. One day is with the Lord 
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one 
day. He is building for eternity, therefore He builds 
after a manner which seems slow to men. He did 
not create the world in a day, though He might have 
done so had He thus chosen. Nor does He attempt 
to work out this great problem of spiritual conviction 
upon the world in a day, though He doubtless might 
have suddenly accomplished it, had He chosen to 
work by other means and with a different end in 
view. 

Such work [says Dr. Joseph Parker] is necessarily 
slow in its progress. Conviction is the slowest of all work. 
By its very nature it is both negative and positive; that is 
to say, it has to penetrate error and prejudice, and actually 
destroy them, before it can begin its constructive process. 
This is the very force of the word ZXeyxos as employed by 
our Lord in this passage, — a word which involves condemna- 
tion, remorse, penitence, and better-mindedness and health 
of soul. Work of this kind is not to be done in a day, for 
if so done it may be as quickly overthrown. The kingdom of 
heaven is in nowise to be hurried in its construction, and in- 
asmuch as it is the highest of all kingdoms it is the least 
susceptible of impatient influences. It resents them. For a 
time, godly labor will seem to disappear in nothingness and 
to leave the laborer without reward or joy ; but afterwards 
there will come up signs and tokens which can not be mis- 
taken for aught but the hire and honor of those who do well. 
Sin, righteousness, and judgment are not to be seen ob- 
jectively, or the work would be easy enough ; they must be 
revealed subjectively, in much painfulness, self-accusation, 


A WORK OF THE AGES 


203 


and controversy of heart, for thus only can they become 
part of our very consciousness, and live forever amidst the 
ruling memories of human life. Jesus Christ commits His 
great work to the ages, and to the ministry of the Eternal 
Spirit, assured that in the long run the world will trace its 
true ideas of sin, righteousness, and judgment, to the Gol- 
gotha of His sorrow and the Olivet of His ascension.* 


♦“The Paraclete.” 


XIX 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS 
OF BELIEVERS 

The office-work which the Paraclete executes to- 
ward those who have been led by His convictive min- 
istry to believe on Jesus Christ as their Redeemer and 
Savior is set forth by Jesus Himself in the following 
words : 

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not 
bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth, is 
come, He shall guide you into all truth: for He shall not 
speak of Himself ; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall 
He speak ; and He will show you things to come. He shall 
glorify Me; for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it 
unto you. (John 16: 12-15.) 

It should be remembered that “the Comforter” of 
which Jesus is here speaking is not a mere gracious 
influence distilled from heaven, but God Himself in 
spiritual operation and manifestation — “the Spirit 
of truth,” “the Holy Ghost,” who has come to abide 
forever in Christian hearts. 

Jesus left the world with “many things” unsaid 
which He wished to communicate to His disciples, 
and with much of the work undone which was neces- 
sary to the complete working out of salvation in the 
hearts of His people. This work, however, was not 
to cease. It was to be continued and completed by 
the agency of the Holy Spirit. By this invisible, 


204 


HE SHALL NOT SPEAK FROM HIMSELF 


spiritual, and all-powerful agency God manifests 
Himself in living personal relation to all who submit 
their wills to His will as it is made known to them 
by conscience, and through the written and the In- 
carnate Word. This submission to the Divine will 
is the condition upon which we may receive that 
peculiar ministry of spiritual guidance and tuition 
which Jesus ascribes to “the Spirit of truth,” and 
whereby believers are to be perfected in Christian 
character, and “thoroughly furnished unto every good 
work.” 

In the words of Jesus which we are now consider- 
ing, the ministry of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter 
of the Church is defined and limited in terms so 
simple and decisive as to leave no devout and honest 
inquirer after truth in obscurity as to what the privi- 
leges of believers are under the economy of the Spirit. 


“he shall not speak from himself” 

In this statement our Lord has fixed an unalterable 
limit to the functions the Comforter is to execute in 
His ministry within the hearts of believers. It is of 
great importance to understand this in studying the 
doctrine of the Holy Spirit. 

What, then, is implied in this limitation ? The in- 
terpretation usually given to these words of Christ 
is, that they limit the Spirit in His work of teaching 
and revelation to testimony regarding the Person and 
work of Christ — that He shall not speak concerning 
Himself, but only concerning the Lord Jesus. That 
the Comforter is under such a limitation is not de- 


208 as comforter in hearts of believers 


seed into the good ground is he that heareth the 
word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, 
and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, 
some thirty,” etc. (Matt. 13: 10-23). 

The essential agreement of the Spirit and the 
Word of God are taught in numerous passages of 
Holy Writ, only a few of which it is necessary to 
cite at this time. St. Paul bids the Christian war- 
rior take “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word 
of God” (Eph. 6 : 17) . This implies that the Word of 
God is the instrument with which the Spirit executes 
the Divine purpose. In writing to the Thessalonian 
Christians, he says: “But we are bound to give 
thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the 
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen 
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit 
and belief of the truth: whereunto He called you by 
our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord 
Jesus Christ.” St. Peter exhorts believers to the 
exercise of Christian love in the following words: 
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the 
truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the 
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure 
heart fervently.” Thus the apostles give evidence of 
a distinct apprehension, in their own minds, of the 
intimate relation and perfect agreement of the Spirit 
and the Word. 

Dr. Joseph Angus, speaking of this agreement, has 
well expressed a great truth in the following para- 
graph : 

The Spirit of God does not communicate to the mind of 
even a teachable, obedient, and devout Christian, any doc- 
trine or meaning of Scripture which is not contained already 


HE SHALL NOT SPEAK FROM HIMSELF 209 

in Scripture itself. He makes men wise up to what is writ- 
ten, but not beyond it. When Christ opened the understand- 
ing of His apostles, it was “that they might understand the 
Scriptures ” (Luke 24:25). When He opened Lydia’s heart, 
she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul. David 
prayed that God would be pleased to open his eyes, that he 
might behold wondrous things out of the Divine law. (Psa. 
119:18.) “The Bible, and through the Bible,” indicates, 
therefore, at once, the subject and the method of Divine wis- 
dom. Whatever is taught contrary to it, or in addition, or 
without its aid, is to be ascribed to the spirit of darkness, or 
to ourselves.* 

The source of all fanaticism in spiritual things is 
in overlooking and ignoring the truth in regard to the 
agreement of the Spirit, in all His office-work, with 
the written Word of God. All erring enthusiasts lay 
claim to revelations from the Holy Spirit separate 
from or in advance of what is written, thus setting 
aside one of the most important truths declared by 
Christ, concerning the ministry of the Spirit, viz., 
that “He shall not speak from Himself ; but whatso- 
ever He shall hear, that shall He speak.” 

They do not “understand” the Word on this point, 
hence they are looking for the Holy Spirit to make 
revelations of new truth; whereas, He comes not to 
reveal new truth, but rather to explain the truth al- 
ready revealed alike through the written and the In- 
carnate Word. The Spirit reveals the meaning of 
the Word, and gives the impulse to obey its pre- 
cepts and requirements. Hence our sanctification is 
said to be by “obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 
Whoever, therefore, professes to be under the tuition 
and guidance of the Holy Spirit, while not obeying 

•“Bible Handbook,” p. 178. 


20 6 AS COMFORTER IN HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

nied, but that such is the primary teaching of the 
passage before us, can not be allowed. 

The passage in the original is ov yap AaA rjaei 
a(f> eavrov, which the Revised Version more properly 
translates, “He shall not speak from Himself ” Tak- 
ing this as the correct rendering and connecting it 
with the words of Christ which immediately succeed 
it, we have the following: “He shall not speak from 
Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He 
speak.” The latter part of this passage is explanatory 
of the former. The meaning of the whole seems to be : 
He shall not act “as a plenipotentiary,” but shall con- 
duct Himself as an Ambassador the functions of 
whose ministry are defined and limited by the Sov- 
ereign He represents. He shall not teach anything 
contrary to what has already been revealed, but shall 
bear one conjoint testimony with the Father and the 
Son, in which the honor and glory of the Godhead, 
and man’s salvation are equally concerned. He shall 
confirm what has already been revealed by adding 
His own testimony thereto ; He shall be the Expositor 
of the Divine Word by giving it a spiritual illumina- 
tion in the minds of men. This accords with the 
statement of Christ as recorded in the 15th verse: 
“All things that the Father hath are Mine ; therefore 
said I, that He shall receive of Mine, and shall show 
it unto you.” 

The Spirit of God never exceeds the bounds of 
God’s revealed Word in His ministry of teaching and 
guidance. “He shall not speak from Himself ; but 
whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak.” The 
Spirit is back of the Word. He knows the Word, and 
uses it to reveal His own character to other minds, 


HE SHALL NOT SPEAK FROM HIMSELF 207 

so far as He designs His personal character to be 
known. This method of operation, and this relation 
and manifestation of the Word and Spirit, are in ac- 
cordance with the constitutional method of mental 
development. In the human as in the Divine mind, 
the Word represents the intelligence. The Word, or 
Logos, is the conceived and expressed thought or 
outbirth of the mind. But back of the intellect, 
which is the source of the Word, is the spirit, or that 
part of our being in which resides our consciousness. 
The spirit is the knowing part of our being. “For 
what man knoweth the things of a man, save the 
spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things 
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 
Cor. 2: 11). In accordance, therefore, with this nat- 
ural order in both the human and the Divine minds, 
the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God — both the 
written and the Incarnate Word — to reveal the 
Divine character and will, and to redeem and sanc- 
tify those who believe. Hence, it is the Divine order 
that men should be “sanctified by the Spirit,” but 
“sanctified through the truth” as revealed in the 
written, and manifested by the Incarnate Word of 
God. 

As fuel is a prerequisite of fire, so truth received 
into the understanding is a prerequisite of the per- 
manent and perfect work of the Spirit in the heart 
of man. This principle is illustrated by our Lord 
in the parable of the sower. “When any one heareth 
the Word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not , 
then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that 
which was sown in his heart. This is he which re- 
ceived seed by the way side. But he that received 


208 as comforter in hearts of believers 

seed into the good ground is he that heareth the 
word, and under standeth it; which also beareth fruit, 
and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, 
some thirty,” etc. (Matt. 13: 10-23). 

The essential agreement of the Spirit and the 
Word of God are taught in numerous passages of 
Holy Writ, only a few of which it is necessary to 
cite at this time. St. Paul bids the Christian war- 
rior take “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word 
of God” (Eph. 6 : 17). This implies that the Word of 
God is the instrument with which the Spirit executes 
the Divine purpose. In writing to the Thessalonian 
Christians, he says: “But we are bound to give 
thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the 
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen 
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit 
and belief of the truth: whereunto He called you by 
our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord 
Jesus Christ.” St. Peter exhorts believers to the 
exercise of Christian love in the following words: 
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the 
truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the 
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure 
heart fervently.” Thus the apostles give evidence of 
a distinct apprehension, in their own minds, of the 
intimate relation and perfect agreement of the Spirit 
and the Word. 

Dr. Joseph Angus, speaking of this agreement, has 
well expressed a great truth in the following para- 
graph : 

The Spirit of God does not communicate to the mind of 
even a teachable, obedient, and devout Christian, any doc- 
trine or meaning of Scripture which is not contained already 


HE SHALL NOT SPEAK FROM HIMSELF 


209 


in Scripture itself. He makes men wise up to what is writ- 
ten, but not beyond it. When Christ opened the understand- 
ing of His apostles, it was “that they might understand the 
Scriptures” (Luke 24:25). When He opened Lydia’s heart, 
she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul. David 
prayed that God would be pleased to open his eyes, that he 
might behold wondrous things out of the Divine law. (Psa. 
119 : 18. ) “The Bible, and through the Bible,” indicates, 
therefore, at once, the subject and the method of Divine wis- 
dom. Whatever is taught contrary to it, or in addition, or 
without its aid, is to be ascribed to the spirit of darkness, or 
to ourselves.* 

The source of all fanaticism in spiritual things is 
in overlooking and ignoring the truth in regard to the 
agreement of the Spirit, in all His office-work, with 
the written Word of God. All erring enthusiasts lay 
claim to revelations from the Holy Spirit separate 
from or in advance of what is written, thus setting 
aside one of the most important truths declared by 
Christ, concerning the ministry of the Spirit, viz., 
that “He shall not speak from Himself ; but whatso- 
ever He shall hear, that shall He speak.” 

They do not “understand” the Word on this point, 
hence they are looking for the Holy Spirit to make 
revelations of new truth ; whereas, He comes not to 
reveal new truth, but rather to explain the truth al- 
ready revealed alike through the written and the In- 
carnate Word. The Spirit reveals the meaning of 
the Word, and gives the impulse to obey its pre- 
cepts and requirements. Hence our sanctification is 
said to be by “obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 
Whoever, therefore, professes to be under the tuition 
and guidance of the Holy Spirit, while not obeying 

•“Bible Handbook,” p. 178. 


210 AS COMFORTER IN HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

the Word of God by a life of labor for the glory of 
the Master and for the good of men, is an enthusiast. 
It is only when we “abide” in Christ by faith, and 
His “words abide in us” by understanding and as a 
law of life and action, that we manifest discipleship 
with Him by “bringing forth much fruit.” 

It seems as though our Lord foresaw the tendency 
there would be, under the spiritual dispensation He 
was soon to inaugurate, for men of weak understand- 
ing or of superficial experience in spiritual things, 
to dishonor and reproach the doctrine of the Holy 
Spirit by plunging into fanatical excess and madness 
under the pretended guidance of the Comforter ; and 
that He therefore fixed the boundary within which 
the Spirit should perform His whole ministry of 
teaching and guidance so plainly that none need 
make any injurious or fatal mistake at this point. 


SPIRITUAL TEACHING 

“He shall teach you all things, and shall bring all 
things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said 
unto you.” The peculiar ministry of the Spirit herein 
set forth doubtless had a more particular application 
to the apostles of our Lord than to the Church as a 
whole, so far as its literal fulfilment was concerned ; 
yet the same principles of spiritual quickening and 
tuition, which were manifested in the fulfilment of 
this promise, also characterize the ministry of the 
Comforter to a goodly measure (though under a dif- 
ference of manifestation) in the minds of all be- 
lievers, in ail ages of the world. It therefore con- 


SPIRITUAL TEACHING 


21 1 


cerned not the disciples alone, but is of supreme con- 
sequence to the Church of God to-day. 

In its primary application this language contained 
a promise of inspiration for the understanding and of 
quickening for the memory of our Lord’s apostles, to 
whom was committed the work of completing the 
Scripture canon and of establishing the Church of 
the New Covenant. Jesus had given them the germ 
of “all truth” essential to the edification and perfect- 
ing of the Church. The Holy Ghost, in His teaching 
ministry, would enlarge their understanding, devel- 
oping the broader meaning of the Master’s teachings 
and enabling them to see, in its broad and complete 
development, the relation of “all truth” to Christ its 
Author, and to the redemption, sanctification, and 
glorification of His Church. 

This inspiration of understanding and memory in 
regard to the truth which Christ had taught, was 
manifested in the apostles on the day of Pentecost. 
What they had formerly failed to understand was 
now made perfectly clear to them, and through them 
to others; and the things which had been forgotten 
were now brought freshly to their memory, even to 
the minutest details, to be no more forgotten. The 
Book of Acts contains the record of the fulfilment of 
this promise made by our Lord to His early dis- 
ciples. The inspiration of memory is manifested in 
the writing of the four Gospels, which exhibit a 
marvelous minuteness of recollection and vividness 
of detail to be accounted for only by the quickening 
ministry of the Holy Ghost. The inspiration of un- 
derstanding is more fully exhibited in the episto- 
lary writings of the apostles, wherein the deepest 


212 AS COMFORTER IN HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

meaning of Christ’s words is apprehended, and set 
forth in a system of doctrines and precepts compara- 
ble to a stately and magnificent temple built on an 
immutable foundation, and supported by many pil- 
lars of matchless strength and beauty. Under the 
inspiration and quickening of the Holy Ghost the 
apostles of our Lord were constantly living over 
again that scene of which Jesus Christ had been the 
center during His earthly ministry, and were being 
taught how to gather up the apparent fragments of 
truth which He had left them here and there, and 
construct them into a perfect and glorious system, 
that nothing, however minute, should be lost. 

This opening of the understanding and this quick- 
ening of the memory are in a goodly measure char- 
acteristic of the Holy Spirit’s work in all believers. 
Not that they are all inspired to the same degree and 
end that the apostles were, who were to write the his- 
tory of the Savior’s life and death — a work which re- 
quired that special Divine teaching and quickening 
promised by our Lord, to qualify them for its per- 
formance, — but they are furnished with this inspira- 
tion in a degree sufficient to guard them against all 
damaging error, and to prepare them for all the re- 
sponsibilities and emergencies of Christian life and 
service. 

The “unction” or “anointing” of the Holy Ghost is 
given to this very end. Hence St. John, in his First 
Epistle, addresses those who are children of God as 
follows: “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, 
and ye know all things” (2 : 20) . And again : “These 
things have I written unto you concerning them that 
seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received 


DIVINE GUIDANCE 


213 


of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man 
teach you: but the same anointing teacheth you of 
all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it 
hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him” (2 : 26, 27) . 
The plain meaning of this language is, that the unc- 
tion of the Holy Spirit is bestowed for the purpose of 
spiritual teaching and illuminating, to produce clear 
and quick discrimination between truth and error, 
and thus to afford the surest safeguard against the 
corruption of believers by false doctrines and seduc- 
ing spirits. 

The Scriptures themselves [says Jeremy Taylor] are 
written by the Spirit of God, yet they are written within 
and without ; and besides the light that shines upon the face 
of them, unless there be light shining within our hearts, un- 
folding the leaves, and interpreting the mysterious sense of 
the Spirit, convincing our consciousness and preaching to our 
hearts, to look for Christ in the leaves of the Gospel is to look 
for the living among the dead. There is a life in them, 
but that life is, according to St. Paul’s expression, “hid with 
Christ in God,” and unless the Spirit of God draw it forth, 
we shall not be able. 


DIVINE GUIDANCE 

“He will guide you into all truth.” The Paraclete 
is not only a Teacher but a Guide. In both these 
respects the ministry of the Spirit is an accommoda- 
tion to human weakness — a wise and beneficent 
adaptation to the necessities of human experience. 
Man is ignorant, hence he needs to be taught in spiri- 
tual things. He is also weak and erring, hence he 
needs a wise and powerful guide to lead him through 
the difficult path of life. In his earthly experience 

15 


214 AS COMFORTER IN HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 


the believer in Christ is in the imperfect spiritual 
state which is symbolized by childhood; hence, the 
need of the Father’s counsel to instruct, and of the 
Father’s hand to guide him in his feebleness and im- 
perfection. In the gift of the Holy Spirit to the be- 
liever both of these necessities are met. By His min- 
istry the counsel and will of God, as revealed in His 
Word, are made light to the understanding and life 
of the soul; and by His gracious operation in the 
heart, the will and the ability to walk in the light of 
God’s counsel is produced. He teaches us “all 
things” necessary to salvation by a mighty spiritual 
illumination, and then “guides us into all truth” 
necessary to our completeness or perfection in Christ, 
by gracious and powerful spiritual drawings and im- 
pulses. 

As a father takes the hand of his child and leads 
him along the difficult and dangerous way, so the 
Holy Spirit tenderly and safely leads the humble, 
trustful soul in the way of truth and holiness. He 
leads the believer away from error, and leads him to 
a saving knowledge of the truth. As the soul of man 
animates his body and regulates all its operations 
and movements, so the Spirit of God touches and ani- 
mates the soul of the believer; operates in and 
through it; regulates its volitions, affections, and 
operations ; reveals to it, through the eye of its faith, 
the things of Christ and of God, as the means of mold- 
ing it into the Divine image, “from glory to glory,” as 
it attains to one degree of knowledge after another ; 
thus guiding it ever on in that upward way of truth 
whose summit is the throne of God. 

“It doth not yet appear what we shall be ;” for now 


DIVINE GUIDANCE 


215 


we only “know in part,” and the measure of our life 
and holiness is limited by the measure of our spiri- 
tual knowledge. “But we know that, when He shall 
appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as 
He is.” Then, the fulness of our knowledge of Christ 
and of God in Christ, will give us the completed life 
of love and blessedness, of holiness and heaven. In 
the Spirit’s work as a Teacher He gives inspiration 
to the understanding and to the memory. In His 
ministry of guidance He gives inspiration to the will, 
the motives, and the affections. Under this inspira- 
tion the soul continually ascends toward God, the 
Fountain of “all truth;” and, in its spiritual ascen- 
sion, it is more and more transfigured into the same 
image, until, at last, it awakens in the full likeness of 
its Lord, and is satisfied. (Psa. 18: 15.) 

It is true [says Archbishop Fenelon] that we are con- 
tinually inspired, and that we do not lead a gracious life, 
except so far as we act under this interior inspiration. But, 
O God ! how few Christians feel it ! how few are they who 
do not annihilate it by their voluntary distractions, or by 
their resistence! 

That the Spirit guides the believer and the Church 
of God in this way, that is, by an interior inspira- 
tion and drawing, seems to be implied in those Scrip- 
tures in which the nature of the New Covenant is set 
forth: “I will put My laws into their minds, and 
write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them a 
God, and they shall be to Me a people” (Heb. 8: 10). 
“And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you 
to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judg- 
ments, and do them” (Ezek. 36:27). The plain im- 
port of these passages is that God, by the indwelling 


216 as comforter in hearts of believers 

and operation of the Holy Spirit, will so reveal to us 
His laws, His truth, His character, that they shall 
become ruling forces in our moral nature. 

In the written Word of God truth is revealed in 
“the letter,” which is its outward, visible symbol; 
in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, it is presented 
in concrete form, personified, exemplified, and made 
exceeding beautiful, though still outward, and vis- 
ible ; “in the Person of the Holy Ghost it is inward, 
spiritual, and all transfiguring.” As the pilot within 
the vessel guides its course across the pathless sea 
and into the remote and quiet harbor, so the Spirit 
of God, enthroned in the believer’s heart, guides him 
over the tempestuous sea of life, enabling him to 
steer clear of the shoals and rocks of error, and, by 
a spiritual, holy, and “well-nigh infallible instinct,” 
to pursue the way of truth and righteousness until 
he passes within the vail, whither his anchor is al- 
ready cast. 


THE. SPIRIT OF TRUTH 

It is worthy of special note that, in the Scripture 
we are considering, our Lord designates the_Com- 
forter as to 7 rvevna rr aXyOeias, “the Spirit of truth.” 
Truth is a complete and indivisible quantity ; and, in 
its essence, “all truth” is spiritual and theological. 
That is, “all truth” primarily and ultimately relates 
to God, who is a Spirit. Solar light is one and in- 
divisible in essence, but its manifestations are vari- 
ous and numerous. All forms and manifestations of 
natural light are traceable primarily and ultimately 
to the solar flame. But light, through a unit, is an 


THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH 


217 


inclusive element, and embraces lights of various de- 
grees and kinds. Even so “all truth,” while one in 
essence, is nevertheless generic and inclusive, em- 
bracing many truths of various kinds. The truths of 
physical science are branches of the one great system 
which includes “all truth.” The truths of revelation, 
or of theological science, are higher branches of the 
same system. Between the truths of science and of 
revelation, therefore, there can never be any real 
conflict, since they are substantially the same, be- 
longing to and composing one complete and indivis- 
ible system of truth. 

There must also be one common center in which 
they meet and wherein they unite ; and, as the com- 
mon center of union among the branches is the heart 
of the vine which produced them, so the common cen- 
ter of “all truth” is the infinite heart of Him from 
whom “all truth” proceeds and of whose character 
it is the reflection and manifestation. Truth, consid- 
ered in its all-conxprehensive relations to the universe 
of mind and matter, is a manifold manifestation or 
revelation of that only infinite, eternal, independent, 
intelligent, and causative Power, the existence of 
which the best Philosophy of this cultured age de- 
clares, and whom revelation designates as God. In 
other words all truth proceeds from God, and is in 
some sense a manifestation of Him. Physical truth 
shows us the hand of God in its wonder-working 
power. That system of revelation which centers in 
the Incarnation shows us the face of God beaming 
with that love which redeemed the world, and radiant 
with the matchless glory of Divine holiness. The 
Holy Ghost, as the indwelling Comforter, Teacher, 


218 as comforter in hearts of believers 

Guide, and Sanctifier of believers, takes them into 
the holy of holies, shows them the very heart of God, 
the prime original Fountain of all truth and holiness, 
and changes them “into the same image, from glory to 
glory,” until, partaking His nature and conformed to 
His likeness, they “know the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom He hath sent,” which knowledge 
is “eternal life” (John 1:3). 

In the whole history of revealed religion there has 
been “a progressive movement toward spirituality.” 
God has been endeavoring to bring His Church, in 
the successive dispensations, to that perfect spiri- 
tual state into which all who enter may see God, know 
Him, and commune with Him, without the aid of any 
such medium as ritual, type, or symbol, but by an 
invisible, substantial, and purely spiritual manifesta- 
tion. The dispensation of the Spirit is the culmina- 
tion of this “progressive movement toward spiritual- 
ity.” Toward this culmination, toward this internal 
manifestation of God to His Church by the Holy 
Spirit, the progressive revelation of truth has tended 
through all the ages. To this end the Holy Ghost in- 
spired the Scriptures, and to this end He has been 
for ages working out the interpretation of the same, 
employing the light of Science, Philosophy, and His- 
tory to give the world a clearer, fuller exposition of 
inspired truth. The Holy Ghost, then, is the ultimate 
Essence, the infinite Fountain or Source, the original 
Revealer, and the only infallible Interpreter, as well 
as the ultimate End, of “all truth.” Hence the pro- 
priety with which our Lord designates Him as “the 
Spirit of truth” 

The Holy Ghost, as “the Spirit of truth,” will 


THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH 


219 


“guide” believers “into all truth.” He only is com- 
petent for this task. Truth, as revealed in the Bible, 
or, as embodied in Jesus Christ, is a temple having its 
outer court, its inner sanctuary, and its holy of 
holies, corresponding with the sensibilities, the in- 
tellect, and the spirit of man. But only He who is 
“the Spirit of truth” can lead us into the holy of 
holies of that great temple, and there reveal to our 
spirits the spirituality of “all truth.” This is the 
work which Jesus Christ, at His departure from the 
world, commissioned the Paraclete to perform. 
Hence His words: “I have yet many things to say 
unto you ; but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit, 
when He the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide 
you into all truth.” 

The process must needs be a gradual one by which 
the Church should be advanced from its feeble, in- 
fant state to “the full knowledge of the truth,” and 
“unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ.” Christ could, doubtless, have given His 
followers the full revelation of Divine things while 
He was with them, but they were not able to bear it. 
They must be instructed by degrees, and led gently 
and gradually in that upward road of truth, the sum- 
mit of which is hidden in the glory of the great white 
throne. Hence the promise, “He will guide you,” 
etc. , which implies a gentle and gradual leading for- 
ward of the Church of God to that full knowledge of 
the truth in which perfection is attained. 

The method of the Spirit’s operation as here de- 
fined, presupposes what has already been intimated — 
that the consent and cooperation of those who are 
subjects of this gracious guidance and tuition is in- 


220 AS COMFORTER IN HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

dispensable. The Holy Spirit guides only those who 
consent to His guidance, and whb desire to know 
the truth that they may walk therein. “If any man 
will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.” “The 
meek will He guide in judgment;” and, “the meek 
will He teach His way.” 


RESPONSIBILITY FOR MISSING THE TRUTH 

If we miss truth [says Jeremy Taylor] it is because 
we will not find it; for certain it is, that all truth which 
God hath made necessary, He hath also made legible and 
plain; and if we will open our eyes we shall see the sun, 
and if “we will walk in the light, we shall rejoice in the 
light.” Only let us withdraw the curtains, let us remove the 
impediments, “and the sin that doth so easily beset us.” That 
is God’s way. Every man must, in his station, do that por- 
tion of duty which God requires of him, and then shall he be 
taught of God all that is fit for him to learn; there is no 
other way for him but this. 

The Spirit of the Lord is “the Spirit of wisdom and 
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the 
Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” 
(Isa. 11:2); and in His guidance of God’s people He 
operates “by secret inspirations, by proper argu- 
ments, by actual persuasions, by personal applica- 
tions, by effects and energies;” all of which opera- 
tions, to be effectual, must have the cheerful consent 
and constant cooperation of the soul whom the Spirit 
would guide into an experimental knowledge of the 
truth. This receptiveness to the Spirit’s interior 
teaching and prompting is the principal demonstra- 
tion of sonship in the family of God. “For as many 


RESPONSIBILITY FOR MISSING THE TRUTH 


22 1 


as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
God” (Rom. 8: 14). 

The ultimate end of all truth is man’s perfection 
in holiness. And the sphere of the Spirit’s operation 
in guiding believers “into all truth” is bounded by 
those truths which are essential to that “holiness 
without which no man shall see the Lord.” The 
work of the Spirit in teaching Christ’s followers “all 
things and bringing all things to their remembrance” 
which the Master had “said unto them,” refers to His 
operation in their understanding ; but His ministry in 
“ guiding them into all truth” seems rather to relate 
to their personal sanctification through the truth — 
to “the perfecting of the saints, to the edifying of 
the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12, 13). This is in ac- 
cordance with our Lord’s prayer for His followers, 
at the close of the discourse in which the distinctive 
mission of the Comforter was announced : 

Sanctify them through Thy truth : Thy word is truth. As 
Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent 
them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, 
that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither 
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe 
on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as 
Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be 
one in Us : that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. 
And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; 
that they may be one, even as We are one : I in them, and 
Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one ; and that 
the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved 
them, as Thou hast loved Me. (John 17 : 17-23.) 


222 AS COMFORTER IN HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

This is the spiritual summit toward which “all 
truth” leads the way. To the attainment of this “the 
Spirit of truth” will ultimately guide every true and 
faithful believer. And from this spiritual eminence 
the Church of Christ, made glorious and spotless in 
holiness, will eternally manifest “to the principalities 
and powers in the heavenly places, the manifold wis- 
dom of God.” 

No man, however, can scale the mount of holiness 
and reach the summit of spiritual perfection by dint 
of his own volition and effort, nor by the knowledge 
which comes from study and the exercise of reason. 
A Divine Guide is infinitely more necessary to him 
who would make this spiritual ascent, than is a 
native guide to the traveler from a foreign land who 
would journey to the summit of the Alps. To bring 
us to this high attainment Christ ascended up on 
high and procured for us the ministry of the Divine 
Comforter — the Holy Ghost. Now, every one who 
would reach the sublime heights of perfection in holi- 
ness must receive and enthrone the Holy Spirit 
in his heart as an absolute Teacher and Guide. He 
does not come to share His ministry with others, but 
to be supreme and absolute within the sphere as- 
signed Him. Hence the necessity of relying on the 
Holy Spirit, and the folly also of relying on anything 
else which men are prone to substitute for the Spirit 
of God. 


THE SECRET OF DIVINE PHILOSOPHY 

Every man [says Jeremy Taylor] understands more of 
religion by his affections than by his reason. It is not the 


THE SECRET OF DIVINE PHILOSOPHY 223 

wit of the man, but the spirit of the man ; not so much his 
head as his heart that learns the Divine Philosophy. * * * 

Human learning brings excellent ministries towards this; 
it is admirably useful for the reproof of heresies, for the de- 
tection of fallacies, for the letter of the Scriptures, for col- 
lateral testimonies, for exterior advantages; but there is 
something beyond this, that human learning without the ad- 
dition of the Divine can never reach. 

A good man, though unlearned in secular knowledge, is 
like the windows of the temple, narrow without and broad 
within ; he sees not so much of what profits not abroad, but 
whatsoever is within and concerns religion and the glorifica- 
tion of God, that he sees with a broad inspection; but all 
human learning with God is but blindness and folly. One 
man discourses of the sacrament, another receives Christ; 
one discourses for or against transubstantiation ; but the 
good man feels himself to be changed, and so joined to 
Christ, that he only understands the true sense of transub- 
stantiation, while he becomes to Christ bone of His bone, 
and flesh of His flesh, and of the same spirit with his Lord. 

From holiness we have the best instruction. For that 
which we are taught by the Holy Spirit of God, this new na- 
ture, this vital principle within us, it is that which is worth 
our learning ; not vain and empty, idle and insignificant no- 
tions, in which, when you have labored till your eyes are 
fixed in their orbs, and your flesh unfixed from its bones, you 
are no better and no wiser. If the Spirit of God be your 
Teacher, He will teach you such truths as will make you 
know and love God, become like Him, and enjoy Him for- 
ever, by passing from similitude to union and eternal 
fruition. 


XX 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS 
OF BELIEVERS — Continued 

PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE 

“He will show you things to come.” By the gift of 
the indwelling Paraclete the Church of Christ is fully 
and adequately furnished for all the vicissitudes of 
her future experience. The word avay ye\el, trans- 
lated “He will show,” does not necessarily imply 
prophetic revelation. It means as well to announce, 
to give notice, to advise, to inform, to set forth, to 
teach. The word in its present connection seems to 
convey the idea of imparting instruction regarding 
the new and perplexing problems which the Church 
of Christ or individual Christians may be called to 
meet as the ages come and go. 

The title, Paraclete (translated Comforter in the 
Authorized Version), means, as we have previously 
noted, an Advocate, or Counselor. It is in His 
office as the Counselor of the Church that the Para- 
clete “will show [her] things to come.” He will ex- 
plain the events of the future as they come to pass. 
He will give the wisdom and ability to deal with the 
most perplexing problems and difficulties that may 
arise. He will prepare the Church for successfully 
withstanding the ever-varying assaults of her ene- 
mies through the lapse of ages. He will enable her 


224 


PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE 


225 


to adapt herself and her methods of operation to the 
changes effected by the flight of time and by the in- 
crease of knowledge and civilization. He will give 
that keenness and clearness of spiritual perception 
which will enable her to see God everywhere, and to 
behold in the darkest and most calamitous events 
that may issue from the womb of futurity the work- 
ing out of Kedemption’s consummation. 

As a parent or guardian would show a child in his 
advance toward maturity how to deal with each of 
the many perplexing problems incident to his devel- 
opment as they are encountered, so the Holy Ghost, 
as the Guardian, Guide, and Teacher of the Church, 
will prepare her for successfully meeting and grap- 
pling with all the perplexing circumstances incident 
to her future development. Christ had many things 
to say unto His followers while He was with them. 
Hence, after His departure He would “give them an- 
other Comforter,” who should “abide with them for- 
ever.” 

This abiding Comforter would “teach them all 
things,” would “guide them into all truth,” and 
would “show them things to come.” 

In all this ministry the Comforter would consider 
the weak and undeveloped condition of the follow- 
ers of Christ, and would lead and instruct them as 
they were able to bear, and as the emergencies of the 
future should demand. As “the Spirit of wisdom and 
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the 
Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord,” He 
would ever dwell in the Church through dwelling in 
the hearts of individual believers, making them “of 
quick understanding in the fear of the Lord,” and ef- 


226 AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

fecting a supernatural preparedness for dealing with 
future events as they should be unfolded with the 
flight of centuries. Jesus would have His followers 
know that the Comforter who was to abide with them 
and in them, would give them all needed wisdom in 
experiences of trial and perplexity. This interpre- 
tation of the words, “He will show you things to 
come,” is in accord with the words of Jesus on an- 
other occasion : 

And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for 
My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what 
ye shall speak : for it shall be given you in that same hour 
what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the 
Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. ( Matt. 10 : 
18-20.) 

Among the whole category of assurances given by 
our Lord in connection with the promise of the Com- 
forter, none is better adapted to comforting, enrich- 
ing, and stimulating the Church through all the vicis- 
situdes of time, than the declaration, “He will show 
you things to come,” if it be considered in the broad 
sense of enabling her to understand and deal with 
whatever the future may develop. But if we limit 
this promise to the prophetic inspiration given to the 
apostles and immediate hearers of our Lord, as many 
commentators are inclined to do, its value to the 
Church in later ages is greatly impaired. Merely to 
“show the things to come” in a prophetic sense, or as 
a supernatural prevision, is less a ground of as- 
surance and comfort to the Church than to know 
that, by the gift of the indwelling Paraclete, she is 
thoroughly furnished for all the emergencies of her 


PROBLEMS OP THE FUTURE 


227 


future warfare. The assurance of having wisdom 
and ability given in every extremity and sufficient for 
every emergency that may arise, is an advantage and 
comfort to the Church greater than human language 
can express. This assurance our Lord has given. 
The future success and triumph of the Church is 
guaranteed by the gift of the indwelling Comforter. 
“God is in the midst of her ; she shall not be moved : 
God shall help her, and that right early” (Psa. 46:5). 

The Holy Ghost did “show things to come” in a 
prophetic sense to the Church of the apostolic age. 
Some of the apostles and early followers of our Lord 
received the gift of prophetic inspiration and revela- 
tion; and, through them, the Church of later ages 
has been favored with a prevision of some of the 
great events and crises of futurity. The field of New 
Testament prophecy extends to the close of the pres- 
ent dispensation, and antedates the dawn of earth’s 
millennial morn. Through that extended field are 
outlined, though dimly, the successive epochs of 
struggle and conflict through which the Church of 
God must win her way to final and everlasting tri- 
umph. Paul, and John, and Peter, under Divine in- 
spiration, have each in a measure drawn aside the 
vail that conceals the future, and given us a pre- 
vision of “things to come.” Nor is the vision one 
that should be an occasion of alarm. On the other 
hand, it is designed to inspire faith, courage, zeal, 
and assurance, — to confirm the faith of the Church in 
the declaration of Christ, that “The gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it.” 

This prophetic showing of “things to come” was 
evidently included in the promise of our Lord now 


228 AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

under consideration. It doubtless is one of the 
means or methods by which the Comforter prepares 
the Church in every age for coming experiences of 
trial and warfare. To limit this promise, however, to 
such communications, is to make its significance and 
value become less and less to the Church of God as 
the centuries of history come and go. But if we con- 
sider the promise in the more general sense of an as- 
surance to the Church, that, by the ministry of the 
abiding Comforter, she shall be given all needed wis- 
dom and understanding in every emergency of her 
career, and shall be taught how to deal with each 
new and perplexing problem which the future may 
present, its significance and value become greater in- 
stead of less, as the Church moves onward in her 
militant course. 

As a matter of fact the Church is not gifted with 
inspired prevision, only as she is furnished with a 
somewhat vague outline of the future in the books 
of the New Testament. Considering this fact, and 
seeing that the Comforter is to “abide with her for- 
ever, we are brought to the conclusion that the 
promise, “He will show you things to come,” has par- 
ticular reference to a supernatural enduement of 
wisdom — a Divine preparedness of mind and heart — 
for dealing with the perplexing and difficult events 
and experiences of the future as they come to pass. 
Taking this view of our Lord’s words, they furnish 
believers in every age with “an all-sufficient assur- 
ance, that whatever may come, and with what vio- 
lence soever its coming may be attended, the Church 
will be prepared to withstand every shock and to 
surmount every difficulty.” 


PROBLEMS OP THE FUTURE 


229 


This promise concerning the ministry of the Com- 
forter applies to the experience of the individual be- 
liever, as well as to the Church collectively. No fol- 
lower of Christ knows what experiences are before , 
him. Could we know all that is in reserve for us in 
the future, the effect would probably be disastrous. 
The Savior could not make the disclosures He would 
gladly have made to His disciples while He was with 
them, because they were not then able to bear them. 
Nor could we bear, in our present experience, the dis- 
closure of what the future has in store for us. Had 
we foreseen ten years ago the conflicts, trials, crosses, 
losses, sufferings, and tribulation experiences which 
have fallen to our portion during the past year, it is 
doubtful if one Christian in a hundred could have 
endured the effect of such a prevision. But when 
the difficulties have appeared one by one, they have, 
by faith, and through the help of the blessed Com- 
forter, been surmounted. All needed wisdom has 
been given for each emergency that has arisen. 

The promise of Christ, given on another occasion, 
but respecting the ability which should be supplied 
to His followers for meeting and dealing with the 
difficult problems of the future, is : “I will give you 
a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall 
not be able to gainsay nor resist” (Luke 21: 15). 

“Out of this assurance comes rest ; the future is no 
longer a trouble ; the clouds that lie upon the horizon 
will be scattered by the brightness of the image of 
God.” 


16 


23O AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 


GLORIFIES CHRIST 

“He shall glorify Me ” In all His offices toward the 
children of men the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus 
Christ. The redeeming work of Christ is the common 
ground upon which He appeals to and invites the at- 
tention of all mankind. His ministry in conviction, 
teaching, guidance, is wholly identified with the 
name and ministry of Jesus. He manifests the glory 
of Christ and of His redemptive work to the children 
of men, so that He who once was “despised and re- 
jected of men” no longer appears as “a root out of 
dry ground having no form or comeliness,” but rather 
as “the Branch of the Lord, beautiful and glorious,” 
and whose “fruit is excellent and comely” (Isa. 4:2). 

What is meant [says Dr. Joseph Parker] by glorifying 
Christ Jesus? We know what is meant by the sun glori- 
fying the earth. Let us familiarize ourselves with that 
process, as it most completely represents the spiritual idea 
now under consideration. The sun does not create the land- 
scape. The mountain and the sea are just as high and 
wide in the grey, cold dawn as at noonday. The sun adds 
nothing to the acreage of the meadows or the stature of the 
rocks. Yet how wonderful is the work of the sun! Look 
upon the earth in the pale dawn, and watch the ministry of 
the sun from hour to hour. How the light strikes the hill, 
burnishes the sea, flushes the trembling dew, and makes the 
blossoming bush burn as if with the presence of God ! 
Everything was there before, yet how transfigured by the 
ministry of light! The commonest things are made almost 
beautiful by that benign service, and as for the higher 
forms of culture it would seem as if one more flash of sun- 
shine would make them as the angels of God. In this 
respect, what light is to the earth, the Holy Ghost is to 
Jesus Christ. The Savior is glorified by the Spirit. The 
work of the Spirit is revelation, not creation. He does not 
make Christ, He explains Him. 


GLORIFIES CHRIST 


231 


The sun in doing all his wonderful work does not speak 
of himself ; he will not, indeed, allow us to look at him. If 
we turn our eyes upon him the rebuke is prompt and intol- 
erable. The language of that rebuke is — Look at the earth, 
not at me ; see the opportunity for service and culture which 
is given you ; do not intrude upon my tabernacle, but work 
within your own sphere while it is called day. The Holy 
Ghost, in like manner, does not speak of Himself. He will 
not answer all our inquiries respecting His personality. We 
can not venture with impunity beyond a well-defined line. 
To the very last men will inquire, What is the Holy Ghost? 
showing that all attempts at exhaustive definition have 
ended in failure and disappointment. Yet whilst He Himself 
is the Eternal Secret, His work is open and glorious, His 
text is Christ. From that theme He never strays. To the 
individual consciousness He reveals the mystery of the 
beauty of Christ. The Christian student sees a Christ which 
he did not see twenty years ago — the same, yet not the same ; 
larger, grander, tenderer, every day; a new music in His 
speech, an ampler sufficiency in His grace ; a deeper humilia- 
tion in His cradle, a keener agony in His cross. This in- 
creasing revelation is the work of the Holy Ghost, and is 
the fulfilment of Jesus Christ’s own promise. That the Son 
of Mary should have claimed the Holy Ghost as His in- 
terpreter! Observe this is an incidental contribution to- 
wards the completeness and harmony of the mystery that is 
embodied in Christ Jesus. Regarded in this light it is very 
wonderful. The beginning and the end are the same, — 
equal in mystery, in condescension, in solemn grandeur. 
Thus : “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost,” 
— this is the beginning; “He shall not speak of Himself, He 
shall glorify Me,” — this is the end: are the tones discordant? 
The incarnation of the Son of God was the work of the Holy 
Ghost; how natural that the explanation of the Son of God 
should be the work of the same minister! As He was be- 
fore the visible Christ, so He was to be after Him, and thus 
the whole mystery never passed from His own control. 

The life of the Son of man, as it is written in the Gos- 
pels, needs to be glorified. He was despised and rejected of 
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief : He had 


232 AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

not where to lay His head : He gave His back to the smiters, 
and His cheeks to them that plucked off His hair : He made 
Himself of no reputation ; He humbled Himself and became 
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross : He was 
rich, yet for our sakes He became poor : upon all this chasm, 
so deep, so grim, we need a light above the brightness of 
the sun. When that light comes the root out of a dry 
ground will be as the flower of Jesse and the plant of re- 
nown, and the face marred more than any man’s will be the 
fairest among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely. 
Such is the wizardry of light!* 

Throughout all His ministry of conviction the Holy 
Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ. Does He convince men 
of sin? It is of the sin of not believing in Christ. 
Does He convince them of righteousness? It is of 
the spotless, perfect, and everlasting righteousness of 
Jesus Christ ; of that righteousness which was made 
manifest in Christ’s ascension to the Father, and 
which He received that He might communicate it to 
all who should believe on Him. Does He convince 
the world of judgment? It is by convincing them 
that the prince of this world has been judged by the 
life and death of Christ; and that his judgment, 
(condemnation) involves the judgment or condemna- 
tion of all who submit to his dominion. In all these 
instances Christ is glorified. All that the Comforter 
shows men in working out this threefold conviction 
of sin, righteousness, and judgment, relates to and 
glorifies the life and work of the Incarnate Son of 
God. 

The Holy Spirit also glorifies Christ Jesus in 'bear- 
ing witness to His Messiahship, and to His Son ship 
with God. “When the Comforter is come,” said 

♦“The Paraclete,” pp. 99-102. 


GLORIFIES CHRIST 


233 


Jesus, “whom I will send unto you from the Father, 
even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the 
Father, He shall testify of Me. And ye also shall 
bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the 
beginning” (John 15: 26, 27). The Holy Ghost did 
bear concurrent witness with the apostles of our 
Lord, by enabling them to perform miracles in the 
name of the Son of God, thereby confirming their 
testimony, and making it prevalent against the 
prejudice and hostility of Jews and Gentiles. There 
was an imperative demand for such a confirmation 
and authentication of the testimony borne by the 
Apostolic Church. 

The Holy Ghost testifies of Christ, not only by 
those sensuous miracles whereby He authenticated 
and confirmed the testimony of the founders of Chris- 
tianity, but by the spiritual miracles which He now 
works w T herever Christ is preached. The healing of 
the sick, the cleansing of the lepers, the raising of 
the dead were “signs” to demonstrate the ability and 
authority of Jesus to redeem the souls of men from 
sin and its attendant evils, and were types also of the 
spiritual restoration, spiritual completeness, and 
spiritual immortality which He effects in all who be- 
lieve on Him. The regeneration and sanctification 
of sinful souls is what the age of sensuous miracles 
aimed at and signified. The greatest of all miracles 
is THE NEW man! 

“A healed leper may appear to be a greater miracle 
than a renewed soul, but in reality, in comparison, 
he is hardly a miracle at all!” To hush a raging 
tempest and calm a roaring sea in an instant, and 
by a single command, is a stupendous miracle, but 


234 AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 


to quicken a dead soul and give settled peace to “a 
mind diseased,” is a miracle the sublimity of which 
surpasses everything else in the history of the uni- 
verse. “If any man be in Christ He is a new crea- 
tion [kt/o-is] ; old things have passed away, and be- 
hold, all things have become new.” This is the great, 
the supreme miracle! Jesus Christ miraculously re- 
stored the halt, the blind, the palsied, the maimed, 
the deaf, the dumb, the leprous, the dead — “a non 
possumus list” in the truest sense. But the Holy 
Ghost restores to virtue and to holiness, “fornicators, 
idolaters, thieves, drunkards, revilers, extortioners,” 
and those who are “foolish, disobedient, deceived, 
serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice 
and envy, hateful and hating one another;” a list of 
which, for helplessness and hopelessness, the former 
one is but a faint similitude! 

REVEALS THE THINGS OF CHRIST 

“He shall receive of the things of Mine and shall 
show them unto you.” By “the things” of Christ we 
are to understand particularly His grace and truth. 
“The law was given by Moses,” as the mediator of 
the Old Covenant; “but grace and truth came by 
Jesus Christ,” as the Mediator of the New Covenant. 
Christ, as a Mediator, is the great Treasurer of 
heavenly things, to whom all the wisdom, truth, and 
grace which God would make known to the sons of 
men are intrusted, and through whom they are mani- 
fested and communicated to the subjects of redemp- 
tion. The Holy Spirit is the immediate Agent by 
whom they are revealed and communicated to the 


REVEALS THE THINGS OF CHRIST 


235 


believing soul. As Christ showed the things of the 
Father, so the Holy Spirit shows us the things of 
Jesus Christ. This is one of the ways in which the 
Spirit glorifies the Son. 

A beautiful illustration of the Spirit’s work in 
glorifying Christ by showing “the things” of Christ 
to the believer, is found in Genesis 24 : 31-37. It is 
the instance of Abraham’s servant seeking a bride for 
Isaae, his master’s son. When he came to the house 
of Bethuel, in Mesopotamia, whose daughter Re- 
bekah he desired to win for Isaac, he would not eat 
until he had made known his errand. “And he said, 
I am Abraham’s servant. And the Lord hath blessed 
my master greatly ; and he is become great ; and He 
hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and 
gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and cam- 
els, and asses. And Sarah, my master’s wife bare a 
son to my master when she was old, and unto him 
hath he given all that he hath/’ etc. Then followed 
a rehearsal of the Providential guidance by which 
the servant had been brought to the house of Bethuel, 
and by which Rebekah had been designated as the 
future wife of Isaac. Upon these grounds he pre- 
sented and urged his suit. 

Notice, that Abraham’s servant claimed no atten- 
tion to himself — his whole concern was for Isaac, 
whom he represented. Note also the manner in 
which he sought to win Rebekah as a bride for his 
master’s son. He rehearsed the dealings of the Lord 
with Abraham — the greatness, the wealth, the honor, 
the distinction he had given him, and the special 
favor shown him in the gift of Isaac as the son of his 
old age — and then said: “Unto him [Isaac] hath he 


236 AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

given all that he hath.” All this representation was 
designed to set forth the excellent advantages Re- 
bekah would be favored with should she become the 
wife of Isaac. The Holy Spirit’s mission is that of 
seeking a bride for Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 
Therefore, as the servant of Abraham showed the 
household of Bethuel the suitableness of Isaac to be 
the husband of Rebekah, by setting forth the great- 
ness, wealth, and distinction of Abraham, all of 
which had been conferred upon his son Isaac, so the 
Holy Spirit takes of the things of Christ — the things 
of which the Father hath made Him the Depository 
and Dispenser — and shows them unto those whom He 
would win to loving, loyal, and eternal devotion to 
the only begotten Son of God. “All things that the 
Father hath are Mine,” said Jesus, “therefore said I, 
He shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you.” 

The things declared to us and bestowed on us, are original- 
ly the Father’s things ; He is the peculiar Fountain of them 
all. His love, wisdom, goodness, counsel, will, are their 
supreme cause and spring. They are made the things of the 
Son on account of His mediation; for thereby they were to 
be prepared for us, and given unto us. And then they are 
actually communicated to us by the Holy Ghost. “He 
shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” He does not 
communicate them to us immediately from the Father. We 
do not so receive any grace from Him, nor make any return 
of praise to Him. We have nothing to do with the Father 
immediately. By the Son alone we have access to Him ; and 
by the Son alone He gives out His grace to us. (“He that 
hath not the Son hath not the Father.”) With Him as the 
great Treasurer of heavenly things are all grace and mercy 
intrusted. The Holy Spirit, therefore, bestows them on us, 
as they are the fruits of the mediation of Christ, and not 
merely as the effects of the Divine bounty of the Father. 
Thus He supplies the bodily absence of Jesus Christ, and 


COMPLETES THE WORK OF REDEMPTION 


effects what He has to accomplish in the world; so that 
whatever is done by Him, is the same as if it were wrought 
immediately by Christ in His own person ; and thus are His 
promises accomplished to believers.* 

We should remember, however, in praying for the 
promised communication and aid of the Comforter, 
that His work is to glorify Jesus Christ ; and that, 
therefore, He is never given to any, save to the end 
that they, by the enduement, may glorify the Son 
of God also. Too many “ask and receive not, because 
they ask amiss, that they may consume it upon their 
lusts.” 


COMPLETES THE WORK OF REDEMPTION 

The Paraclete glorifies Jesus Christ by completing 
the work of redemption which He began in His own 
Person and ministry. The mission of the Spirit is not 
one of original enterprise, but is rather a perfecting 
work, which presupposes the love, the grace, the coun- 
sel, and the eternal purpose of the Father, as mani- 
fested in the whole mediation of Jesus Christ the 
Son. It is peculiarly the work of the Spirit to make 
all these effectual in them that believe the Gospel, 
to the praise of the glory of God’s free grace. The 
foundation of the Church is laid in the eternal pur- 
pose of the Father, through the mediation of the 
Son; the rearing and perfecting of the superstruc- 
ture is to be accomplished, “Not by might nor by 
power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord. * * * 

And He shall bring forth the headstone thereof with 
shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4 : 6, 
7 ). 

♦Owen’s “The Holy Sipirit,” pp. 112, 113. 


238 AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

A great spiritual process is now going forward 
among men which is to culminate in glory ineffable 
and eternal. This process is identified from first to 
last with the name and work of Jesus Christ. 
Through His mediation the Holy Ghost is given. By 
the Holy Ghost Jesus is to be glorified among men, 
both in His personality and in His work ; till “every 
knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth; and till every 
tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2: 10, 11). 

“The work of the Holy Ghost was to be infinitely 
more than a work of mere explanation: it was to 
move forward to the very point of glory, even the 
glory which the Son of man had with the Father be- 
fore the world began.”* 

Christ, as the great Head of the Church, has al- 
ready resumed that original glory of which He 
emptied Himself when He came to redeem the world, 
and for which His heart yearned with a pathetic 
home-sickness as He breathed the prayer, “Now, O 
Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with 
the glory which I had with Thee before the world 
was” (John 17 : 5). And it was “through the eternal 
Spirit,” from first to last, that the human nature of 
Christ was glorified and made every w r ay meet for 
its eternal residence at the right hand of God, as a 
pattern of “the glory that shall be revealed in” all 
who are the children of God by faith in Him. The 
same Spirit who made His nature holy in the begin- 
ning, made it eternally glorious “when He raised 
Him from the dead and set Him at God’s right hand 


Parker. 


COMPLETES THE WORK OF REDEMPTION 239 

in the heavenlies, far above all principality, and 
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that 
is named, not only in this world, but also in that 
which is to come : and put all things under His feet, 
and gave Him to be Head over all things to the 
Church [which is the body] , the fulness of Him that 
filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:20-23). 

But Jesus will not be glorified in the highest sense, 
as a Mediator, until His mystical body, the Church, 
is glorified with Him. Then “He shall see of the 
travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” To the 
same Spirit who prepared, sanctified, and glorified 
the human nature of Christ as the Head of the 
Church, is committed the calling, the sanctification, 
and the glorification of the Church (the whole num- 
ber of God’s elect) as the body of Christ. As Adam’s 
glory was incomplete in Eden without Eve (since 
“the woman is the glory of the man”), even so 
Christ’s glory is not complete in heaven without the 
Church, which is His bride and wife. “Christ loved 
the Church and gave Himself for it; that He might 
sanctify and cleanse it, with the washing of water 
by the Word, that He might present it unto Himself 
a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or 
any such thing; but that it should be holy and with- 
out blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). He is now awaiting 
the full realization of that end for which He “gave 
Himself”— the glorification with Himself of His 
chosen Bride, the Church. Toward that grand cul- 
mination in which is involved the highest glorifica- 
tion of Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost is now carrying 
forward the work of human redemption. 

In the onward march of truth, in the progress of 


24O AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

civilization, in the world-wide diffusion of Christian 
knowledge and experience, in the rapid transforma- 
tion of heathen into Christian countries, in the con- 
stantly advancing moral and spiritual elevation of 
humanity wherever the light of the Gospel shines, 
we can discern a progressive movement toward that 
golden era foretold in prophecy, when the curse shall 
be lifted from all nations, and “the creation itself 
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption 
into the glorious liberty of the children of God” 
(Kom. 8: 21). 

The energy by which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is 
made efficient in the regeneration of human hearts 
and in the moral renovation of the world, is that 
which is supplied by the Holy Ghost. The founda- 
tion of the Church was laid in the mediation of Jesus 
Christ. He is “the Stone which the builders re- 
jected,” but which God hath “made the headstone of 
the corner.” Prior to offering Himself as a media- 
torial sacrifice, He made provision for the propaga- 
tion of the work He had begun, after He should be 
withdrawn from among men, by choosing and ap- 
pointing a human ministry which should continue to 
the close of the dispensation. As a full and adequate 
furnishing for their work He promised to His min- 
isters, and to the Church in general, an enduement 
of “power from on high.” “It is not for you to know 
the times and the seasons which the Father hath put 
in His own power,” said He, to some whose curiosity 
prompted them to question Him concerning times 
and seasons, “but ye shall receive power after that 
the Holy Ghost is come upon you [the power of the 
Holy Ghost coming upon you, in margin] ; and ye 


COMPLETES THE WORK OF REDEMPTION 24I 

shall be witnesses nnto Me both in Jerusalem and in 
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part 
of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 

It was the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the in- 
fant Church which was to empower her for carrying 
the Gospel testimony to the ends of the earth, and 
for winning glorious conquests over the corrupt and 
corrupting philosophies, mythologies, idolatries, 
superstitions, and abounding iniquities and vices, 
with which the whole world was then overspread like 
Egypt with its plagues. Hence they were all bidden 
to “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until endued 
with power from on high.” 

The Christian Church was founded by the agency 
of the Holy Ghost; and its permanence, growth, effi- 
ciency, and final glorification are conditioned on the 
abiding ministry of the indwelling Comforter. 

This is the hinge on which the whole weight of it turns 
to this day [says Dr. Owen]. Take this away; suppose it 
to cease, as to actual accomplishment, and there is an end of 
the Church of Christ in the world. No dispensation of the 
Spirit, no Church. He that would utterly separate the 
Spirit from the Word, might as well burn his Bible. The 
bare letter of the New Testament will no more produce faith 
and obedience in the souls of men, than the letter of the Old 
Testament does among the Jews. (2 Cor. 3: 6-8.) But, 
blessed be God, who has knit these things together in the 
bond of an everlasting covenant. 

Through all the ages of Christianity the Holy 
Ghost has been with the Church of God, even “as a 
wall of fire round about her, and as the glory in the 
midst.” By this she has been preserved amid all the 
fierce assaults of hell, and by this she has been em- 
powered for glorious triumph in every conflict with 


242 AS COMFORTER IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS 

sin and error. By this the Church is furnished for 
yet more glorious achievements and conquests than 
have been wrought in any of the bygone ages, and 
her final and everlasting triumph is assured. In the 
gift of the abiding Comforter, the risen and ascended 
Christ has made provision for the full and glorious 
completion of His redemptive work on earth ; and by 
the unceasing and effectual ministry of the Paraclete 
the work of actual human redemption is rapidly 
progressing toward that consummation which in- 
volves the supreme glorification of Jesus Christ. 


XXI 


THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK IN REGENERATION 
WHAT IS REGENERATION 

Regeneration is a term used to express the com- 
jmunication of spiritual life to souls that were dead 
In trespasses and sins. The term regeneration 
(TTaXivyevema from 7raAiv, again, and yevecns, birth 
or being born) means “born again.” The word itself 
occurs but twice in the Scriptures — first, in Matt. 
19 : 28 : “Ye which have followed Me, in the regenera- 
tion when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of 
His glory, ye also shall sit upon thrones judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel,” where it evidently has refer- 
ence to “the restitution of all things” under the mil- 
lennial economy; and second, in Titus 3: 5, “Not by 
works of righteousness which we have done, but ac- 
cording to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of 
regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost,” - 
etc., where it is equally evident that it designates 
the moral renovation of individuals through the vir- 
tue of Christ’s atonement. 

While the word itself occurs but twice in the 
Bible, its equivalent is of common occurrence. Our 
Savior used the same thought when He said to Nico- 
demus, “except a man be born again, he can not see 
the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). We have also 
another equivalent in John 1 : 13— “Which were born, 
243 


244 THE holy spirit's work in regeneration 

not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the 
will of man, but of God ;" also in 1 Peter 1 : 23 — 
‘‘being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of in- 
corruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and 
abideth for ever ;" and still further in Eph. 2 : 1 — 
“And you hath He quickened [made alive] who were 
dead in trespasses and sins." 

Regeneration, therefore, is a second birth, whereby 
one is made partaker of spiritual life who was ut- 
terly without it before. The change wrought in this 
experience is most decided and radical. The Scrip- 
tures speak of it not only in the terms mentioned in 
the foregoing paragraph, but also as being made “a 
new creature" (2 Cor. 5 : 17) ; as having “passed from 
death unto life" (John 5:24) ; as having been “quick- 
ened together with Christ" (Eph. 2:5); as having 
been “translated out of the kingdom of darkness into 
the kingdom of God’s dear Son" (Col. 1 : 13) ; as hav- 
ing been made “partakers of the Divine nature" (2 
Peter 1:4) ; and as having “put on the new man, 
which after God is created in righteousness and true 
holiness" (Eph. 4 : 24) . 

“Where were you born ?" inquired a Church prelate 
of the holy Summerfield. “In Liverpool and Dub- 
lin," was the quick reply. “Why, were you born in 
two places?" inquired the ecclesiastic; to which 
Summerfield as promptly replied, “Art thou a mas- 
ter in Israel, and knowest not these things?" 

All genuine Christians are “twice-born men" — 
born of the flesh by natural generation, and as de- 
cidedly “born again," “born of the Spirit," “born 
from above," by a supernatural process of regenera- 
tion. We are born into this world possessed of phys- 


WHAT IS REGENERATION 


245 


ical life, and of intellectual life, but destitute of 
spiritual life, of which Adam and all his posterity 
were deprived through the fall. Hence, in order to 
become possessed of spiritual life, we must be spir- 
itually quickened, or reborn, by the energy and 
power of the Holy Spirit. None can ever enter the 
spiritual realm called the kingdom of God, or per- 
form any of the functions of spiritual life, until this 
radical moral change has been effected. By no 
process of growth, evolution, culture, or reformation, 
is it possible to enter the spiritual kingdom. Nor can 
penances, sacraments, ritualistic observances, works 
of righteousness, gifts of money, or sacrifices of any 
kind or number, ever avail to procure a standing in 
the kingdom of God, which is in its inmost nature a 
spiritual kingdom. “For in Christ Jesus neither 
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, 
but a new creature” (Gal. 6: 15). 

Having noted some of the scriptural characteriza- 
tions of this great change, which throw light upon 
its nature, it is quite in order to note also how the 
theologians have defined it. Catching the spirit of 
the biblical texts presented, and of others of like im- 
port, they have carefully elaborated from these, doc- 
trinal statements which are of much value. John 
Wesley defines the new birth as 

That change which God works in the soul when He 
brings it into life; when He raises it from the death of sin 
to the life of righteousness. It is a change wrought in the 
whole soul by the Almighty Spirit of God, when it is created 
anew in Christ Jesus; when it is renewed after the image 
of God in righteousness and true holiness.* 

17 *Sermon on “The New Birth.” 


246 THE HOLY SPIRIT^ WORK IN REGENERATION 

Richard Watson puts it on this wise: 

Regeneration is that mighty change in man, wrought by 
the Holy Spirit, by which the dominion which sin had over 
him in his natural state, and which he deplores and 
struggles against in his penitent state, is broken and abol- 
ished ; so that with the full choice of will and the energy of 
right affections, he serves God freely, and runs the way of 
His commandments.* 

Dr. Hannah thus defines it : 

Regeneration is that spiritual change which is wrought 
in believing man by the Holy Spirit of God, and which, 
though it may be mysterious and inexplicable in its process, 
is sufficiently plain and obvious in its effects, t 

The foregoing are Methodist theologians. We now 
quote from two Calvinistic authors, to show that 
there is essential agreement on the subject, however 
wide the difference on other matters. 

The late Rev. Charles A. Hodge, D. D., an eminent 
Presbyterian theologian, says of regeneration : 

It is a Divine creative change analogous to that which 
God put forth in the beginning, when He said, Let there 
be light, and there was light; or when Jesus called Lazarus 
from the grave. It is the communication to us in the cen- 
ter of our soul of a new spiritual life, which, acting from 
within, communicates a new principle of action which in- 
volves the whole soul, with all its faculties in all their func- 
tions and in all their relations.! 

The Rev. David Gregg, D. D., Pastor of LaFayette 
Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, New York, 
says: 

The term “Regeneration” is a synonym of our political 
term “Naturalization.” It is a compound Latin derivative 

•“Theological Institutes,” Vol. II., p. 267. 

tQuoted in “Field’s Handbook of Christian Theology,” p. 217. 

^Lectures on “Theological Themes,” p. 341. 


WHAT IS REGENERATION 


247 


which, when literally translated, means to be born again. 
The man who is born again loses his old nature and receives 
a new nature, and with the new nature he thinks new 
thoughts, owes a new allegiance, and seeks new aims. The 
naturalized citizen of our Republic loses the English, the 
German, the Italian, the Irish, out of his nature and is 
filled full of that which is solely and absolutely American. 
The ideals and methods and principles pertaining to the 
political life of the fatherland are eliminated from his being, 
and fired with Americanism pure and simple, he gives his 
life to the working out of Republican ideals, methods, and 
principles. If this be not true, in spirit he is still an alien ; 
and he should be treated as an alien and his naturalization 
papers torn to shreds.* 

These are typical definitions from Protestant theo- 
logians of both the Arminian and Calvinistic schools, 
and show that they are in essential agreement as to 
the nature of that moral change called regeneration, 
and that according to both it is a change such as 
only Divine power can produce. Man must cooperate 
with God, in the surrender of himself and in the exer- 
cise of desire and faith, but beyond this he can do 
no more: God must change the heart. As Wesley 
somewhere says, “It takes the power that made the 
world to make a Christian.” 

Christ has asserted the absolute necessity for this 
change in man’s nature and character — the fact that 
God’s kingdom is altogether spiritual, while man in 
his natural state is altogether fleshly, and with his 
fleshly mind can no more see and enjoy the things of 
the spiritual realm than a dead man can see and 
enjoy the things of the natural world. “Except a 
man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of 
God.” “Except a man be born of water and of the 

♦“Facts That Call for Faith,” p. 165. 


248 THE HOLY SPIRIT^ WORK IN REGENERATION 

Spirit [i. e ,, of the Spirit as symbolized by the water 
in the “laver” of the ancient temple], he can not en- 
ter into the kingdom of God.” “Marvel not that I 
said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” 

NECESSITY OF REGENERATION 

Nicodemus questioned, “How can these things be? 
Can a man enter a second time into his mother’s 
womb and be born?” But the words that Jesus had 
already uttered answer all such inquiries: “That 
which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is 
born of the Spirit is spirit.” This was equivalent to 
saying, “I am speaking of a change in man’s moral 
and spiritual nature , not of any bodily or fleshly 
change.” To see, enter into, appreciate, and enjoy 
spiritual things, there must be the creation of a 
spiritual sense, faculty, instinct, sympathy, such as 
the natural man does not possess. The Breath of the 
Eternal must move upon man’s dormant spiritual 
powers, quickening them into life, or he must remain 
in spiritual darkness and death. Such is the force of 
Christ’s words as to the necessity of the new birth. 

The deep and desperate depravity of human nature 
makes man’s regeneration necessary. According to 
Psalm 51 : 5 man is “conceived in sin” and “shapen in 
iniquity.” There is a moral twist in his nature from 
the moment of his conception, inclining him to go 
astray as soon as consciousness dawns upon him. 
Nor is he able to overcome this depraved condition 
by any unaided effort of his own ; “because the car- 
nal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject 
to the law of God, neither indeed can be: so then 


NECESSITY OF REGENERATION 


249 


they that are in the flesh [in their natural state and 
under the dominion of their natural propensities] 
can not please God” (Rom. 8: 7, 8). So desperate is 
this state of depravity that the natural man can not 
please God if he would, and he would not please Him 
if he could. “Every imagination of the thought of 
his heart is only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Dr. 
Scofield comments on this passage as follows : “The 
whole imagination. The Hebrew word signifies not 
only the imagination but also the purposes and de- 
sires.” The whole inner life is warped, twisted out 
of shape, inclined to crookedness, and that hopelessly 
so. Moreover this condition is one of spiritual blind- 
ness. “The natural man receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him : 
neither can he know them, because they are spiritual- 
ly discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). He may be cultured, 
genteel, eloquent, magnetic, and forceful, but in the 
absence of the Holy Spirit’s quickening and illum- 
inating power the spiritual content of Scriptures and 
the spiritual significance of the things of God’s king- 
dom are absolutely hidden from his understanding. 
Sin ever blurs or blinds the spiritual vision. 

Not only does depravity darken the understanding, 
but it renders the will perverse and the affections 
sordid and earthly. “Because sentence against an 
evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the 
heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do 
evil” (Eccl. 8:11). What could describe a worse 
state of perverted will than this ? Think of it ! The 
heart fully set to do evil! And that because for evil 
already done vengeance has been delayed by the in- 
terposition of Divine mercy! Perversity of will is 


250 THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK IN REGENERATION 

again set forth in the words of Jesus to the Jews who 
rejected Him: “And ye will not come to Me that ye 
might have life” (John 5:40). See also Matt. 23: 
37. That the affections are also included in this de- 
praved condition is evident from Rom. 8:5: “For 
they that are after the flesh [that is, they that are in 
their state of natural depravity] do mind the things 
of the flesh.” Their affections are set on earthly and 
fleshly things, and they seek after them, rather than 
after the things of the Spirit of God. Moreover, the 
whole conduct of those who are unregenerate is under 
the dominion and regulation of Satan, “the prince of 
the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in 
the children of disobedience: among whom also we 
all had our conversation [entire manner of life] in 
times past, fulfilling the desires [wills, in margin] of 
the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature chil- 
dren of wrath, even as others” (Eph. 2:2, 3). 

In this sad state we are born — flesh of flesh, the depraved 
offspring of depraved parents; and having been “born in 
sin,” we must be “born again;” the fleshly principle must 
die; and, born from above, spirit of Spirit, the spiritual 
principle will be restored to its proper supremacy and 
power, thus allying us to God, and enrolling us among the 
subjects of a spiritual kingdom.* 

The unsullied holiness of God, angels, the spirits 
of just men made perfect, and all that constitutes 
the heavenly world with its society, employments and 
enjoyments, are so many demands upon sinful men 
that they be born again, if they are ever to rise to 
that celestial state — to the Father’s house with its 
many mansions, to the glory of the heavenly city, of 

♦Field’s “Handbook of Christian Theology,” p. 218. 


THE AUTHOR OF REGENERATION 


251 


which it is said, “There shall in no wise enter into it 
anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh 
abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are 
written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21 : 27). 


THE AUTHOR OF REGENERATION 

If it now be asked, “By what agency is this great 
change in man’s nature and character to be 
wrought?” the answ r er is, “By the agency of the Holy 
Spirit of God.” By having considered the nature of 
this change we have seen that the work is one which 
no man can accomplish for himself ; that no process 
of reformation, education, cultivation, or develop- 
ment, through the example or efforts of others, can 
bring it to pass; in fact, a work such as no power 
short of the Infinite can effect. Hence the uniform 
testimony of Scripture is to the effect that to be 
spiritual men we must be “born of the Spirit ” He 
alone can impart the new life of Christ. God the 
Father is its source; God the Son its procuring 
Cause ; and God the Holy Spirit the efficient Agent in 
its accomplishment. 

“Born of the Spirit” is a scriptural phrase embody- 
ing the idea that the Spirit is the Agent in the ac- 
complishment of this marvelous change. “It is the 
Spirit that quickeneth” (maketh alive), is another 
instance of the same kind; as also St. Paul’s state- 
ment that “the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth 
life.” See John 6: 63, and 2 Cor. 3: 6. The great 
apostle also refers to the same thought when he 
says (Rom. 8:2), “For the law of the Spirit of life 
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of 


252 THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK IN REGENERATION 

sin and death.” In 2 Cor. 3 : 18 he also says, speak- 
ing of the transformation of personal character, “But 
we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the 
glory of the Lord, are changed [metamorphosed] 
into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by 
the Spirit of the Lord.” Then again we have the 
same thought presented in another form in Titus 
3:5: “Not by works of righteousness which we have 
done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by 
the washing [as in the laver of the temple] of regen- 
eration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which 
He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
Savior.” These are a few of the many Scriptures 
which teach that the Holy Spirit is always the effi- 
cient Agent in the work of regeneration. 

But while this point is made clear let no one sup- 
pose that man has no part to perform in securing this 
moral renovation. Man is no mere machine moved 
upon by the will of another, and having no responsi- 
bility in the matter of securing his own salvation. 
Being a volitional creature he is responsible for his 
own choices. In the work of saving men God always 
acts in harmony with the nature and faculties with 
which He has endowed them. He forces decision 
upon no man, nor does He save any without their 
concurrence and cooperation. Hence the scriptural 
exhortation, “Work out your own salvation, with fear 
and trembling; for it is God that worketh in you 
both to will and to do, of His good pleasure” (Phil. 
2:12). Divine sovereignty and human freedom are 
both concerned in working out man’s salvation, in- 
comprehensible as the fact may be. Man must per- 
form his part, or God can not with consistency per- 


THE AUTHOR OF REGENERATION 


253 


form His part. There is a sense in which every man 
must work out his own salvation, as we have just 
seen; a sense also in which he must make himself 
a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 18:31), if he 
would experience the regenerating power of the Holy 
Spirit. 

It is possible for men to comply with God’s re- 
quirements, else it were criminal in God to make 
those requirements. All His commands carry im- 
plicit or implied enablings with them. He gives certain 
power of compliance to all. Not, indeed, independent 
of Divine help, for we are dependent upon God for 
even the power to breathe ; how much more then for 
the power to comply with the conditions of salvation 
from sin! Only that the Holy Spirit awakens, il- 
lumines, convicts, and tenderly draws men Godward, 
none could or would repent, turn to God, and in faith, 
with prayer and supplication, seek His pardoning 
mercy. To all these offices the blessed Paraclete is 
faithful, however, and thereby He ever seeks to bring 
men into reconciliation with God, and into the expe- 
rience of regenerating grace. How imperative it is, 
then, that men act in these important matters while 
the Spirit awakens, calls, woos, and draws them, lest, 
being grieved, resisted, vexed, too often and too long, 
He should cease to perform these functions, and 
abandon the soul to a hopeless fate ! God says, “My 
Spirit shall not always strive with man” (Gen. 6:3). 

HE WORKS BY THE USE OF MEANS 

In accomplishing the regeneration of men the 
Spirit of God works by the use of means. It is doubt- 


254 THE holy spirit's work in regeneration 

ful that He ever proceeds in any other way, though 
a certain class of writers have contended earnestly 
that He does. The truth of God as expressed in 
His written Word, is an indispensable means em- 
ployed by the Spirit to bring about the enlighten- 
ment, conviction and regeneration of sinful men. 
Hence the Scriptures speak of them as “being born 
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 
even by the Word of God , which liveth and abideth 
for ever” (1 Pet. 1:23). Again we read: “Of His 
own will begat He us with the Word of His truth,” 
etc. (James 1:18). Many similar passages will 
readily occur to those who are familiar with the 
Scriptures. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth 
shall make you free” (John 8:32). How important, 
then, that men “receive with meekness the ingrafted 
Word, which is able [as used by the Holy Spirit] to 
save their souls !” 

WORKS THROUGH OUR FAITH 

Instrumentally the Spirit works also through 
man’s faith. Christ performed His miracles upon the 
bodies of men through their faith; and even so the 
Spirit performs His mightier miracles upon the souls 
of men, in the accomplishment of their regeneration, 
through their faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation, in- 
cluding justification, regeneration, sanctification, 
and final preservation, is by faith, and by faith alone ; 
but it is always by a “faith that worketh.” All other 
faith is dead, and therefore worthless. A living faith 
is ever a faith that leads to corresponding action, in 
the direction of cheerful and full compliance with the 


THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES ASSURANCE 


255 


conditions of salvation ; and through such a faith the 
Holy Spirit can and does operate efficiently for the 
renewal of the heart. 


CONCOMITANTS OP REGENERATION 

The following, from “Field’s Handbook of Chris- 
tian Theology/’ concisely and clearly sets forth the 
relation between regeneration and justification, adop- 
tion, the witness of the Spirit, etc. : 

Although we believe that justification, the witness of the 
Spirit, and regeneration, are coexistent (that is, they are 
bestowed upon us in the same moment of time), is there 
not, in the order of thinking, a succession of one to the 
other? and between the two latter is there not a relation re- 
sembling that of cause and effect? 

The succession in the order of thought is this. In the first 
instance, justification, or the relative change, is obtained 
with immediate adoption into the family of God. The Spirit 
is then given to bear His witness to the heart that sin is 
forgiven and the prodigal welcomed to the Father’s house. 
And from that witness, and the consciousness of Divine love 
which it awakens, there springs up in the heart that love to 
God which is the great principle in our regeneration. (John 
4 : 19.) This is the order of our spiritual recovery, and hence 
we see the harmony which exists between the blessings, the 
witness of the Spirit being the keystone — or the link which 
binds together the relative with the real change.* 


THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES ASSURANCE 

The Holy Spirit always assures men of the fact 
when their sins are forgiven and their hearts re- 
newed. “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with 

*pp. 219, 220. 


256 THE HOLY SPIRITS WORK IN REGENERATION 

our spirit that we are the children of God” (Rom. 
8:16). Is it asked, “In what does the witness of 
the Spirit consist?” No better answer has ever been 
given than that of Mr. Wesley : “By the testimony of 
the Spirit, I mean an inward impression on the soul, 
whereby the Spirit of God immediately and directly 
witnesses to my spirit that I am a child of God, that 
Jesus Christ hath loved me and given Himself for 
me, that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am 
r reconciled to God.”* 

The witness of our own spirit is a rational conclu- 
sion from a careful study of the scriptural marks 
distinguishing the children of God, and from the 
assurance of our own consciousness that we bear 
those marks, that we are indeed the sons of God, and 
entitled to call Him, Abba, Father. Wesley declares 
it to be “nearly if not exactly the same as the testi- 
mony of a good conscience towards God, and the re- 
sult of reason and reflection on what we feel in our 
own souls.”f 

While there is a joint testimony of God’s Spirit 
with our own spirit, it is of great consequence that 
we rightly understand the proper order of sequence 
between the two. A sinner does not ascertain the 
fact that his sins are forgiven and that he is adopted 
into the family of God in the first place by any kind 
of rational process whatever. The pardon of a sin- 
ner is an act that passes in the mind of God, and 
only He can communicate a knowledge of the fact to 
the one who is pardoned. Hence, from the very 
nature of the case, the Spirit’s testimony must pre- 
cede all other evidence. The absurdity of placing the 

♦Sermon xi. flbid. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES ASSURANCE 


257 


witness of our own spirit first appears from the fact 
that one must be inwardly and outwardly holy before 
he can be conscious of being so; that is, before he 
can have the testimony of his own spirit that he is 
inwardly and outwardly holy. But in order to be 
holy at all he must love God supremely, since su- 
preme love to God is the root of all holiness. We can 
not, however, love God until we know that He loves 
us, not only in the sense of compassion, but with the 
love of complacency. “We love Him because He first 
loved us” (John 4: 19). But we can not know His 
pardoning love to us until His Spirit seals the as- 
surance of it on our hearts, by a testimony both im- 
mediate and direct. Hence it appears that the idea 
that any testimony or evidence that we are the chil- 
dren of God which is reached only by a rational 
process is grossly absurd. 

The foregoing view is also corroborated by univer- 
sal Christian experience. “The fruit of the Spirit,” 
which is “love, joy, peace,” etc., is an evidence that 
one in whom it has place is a child of God ; but it is 
a kind of evidence which requires a rational process 
— reflection, comparison and deduction; and in the 
nature of the case this fruit can not be manifested 
until the fact of our pardon is assured. “The rela- 
tion in which the ‘fruits of the Spirit’ stand to the 
‘witness of the Spirit’ is that of the effect to its 
cause.” 

We should be careful, however, to distinguish 
clearly between the testimony of the Holy Spirit and 
impressions that proceed from an excited imagina- 
tion, or from some delusion of Satan. Failure at this 
point has led many into errors which have resulted 


258 THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK IN REGENERATION 

in their making shipwreck of faith, and also in' great 
damage to the cause of God. How may we make the 
required distinction? By noting and always giving 
due weight to the following principles: 

1. The witness of the Spirit is always preceded by 
genuine repentance. Repentance ( /xerdvoia , in the 
Greek) means literally having a new mind. It is a 
change of mind, followed by a consequent change of 
life; a change of purpose, followed by a correspond- 
ing change of conduct. To repent is to “cease to do 
evil, and learn to do well.” It is to renounce sin with 
all one's strength of purpose, and as hateful in the 
sight of God, and to “turn with purpose of heart to 
the Lord.” Isaiah exhorted men to repentance in 
his day on this wise: “Let the wicked forsake his 
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let 
him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy 
upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly 
pardon” (Chap. 55:7). When a soul is so humbled 
with a sense of his own sinfulness that he cries, like 
the publican, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” he 
may be said truly to repent; and until one has ex- 
perienced substantially this change of mind, and its 
consequent change of life, he has not repented in the 
scriptural sense. There is no such thing as repen- 
tance without amendment of life; nor is there for- 
giveness of sins for any but those who have gen- 
uinely repented. Therefore let every man be assured 
that, unless he is honestly responsive to this test, any 
supposed witness of the Spirit he may have is either 
a mere matter of false imagination, or a delusion of 
the devil. Some deceptive voice has cried, “Peace, 
peace, when there is no peace.” 


THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES ASSURANCE 


259 


2. The witness of the Spirit is always followed by 
“the fruit of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit in the 
heart is a tree of life, and its presence in any indi- 
vidual is always attested by the production of holy 
fruit. This fruit is composed of a cluster of spiritual 
graces such as superficial and false professors can 
never simulate. Those graces are “love, joy, peace, 
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
temperance” (Gal. 5: 22, 23). Wherever the inward 
testimony of the Spirit is really experienced these 
fruits appear in the outward life; and, vice versa, 
wherever these fruits really appear in the outward 
life, they are the products of the witnessing Spirit. 
Such graces are not the product of a heated imagina- 
tion, nor of satanic delusion. Nor are they indige- 
nous to the natural heart, but are ever the products 
of a regenerative change. Where these abound, the 
witness from above and the witness of the fruit sub- 
stantiate each other, and bear united testimony, re- 
sulting in “strong consolation,” which even the ap- 
proach of death and the judgment will not disturb. 

3. The witness of the Spirit, which is primarily 
bestowed for the consolation of the individual be- 
liever, is always attended by certain other scriptural 
evidences of a regenerate state. We mention a few 
of them: (1) Victory over the world. “For whatso- 
ever is born of God overcometh the world: and this 
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
faith” (1 John 5:4). The faith by which one is 
raised from the death of sin to a life of righteousness 
also continues to raise him above the world in its 
baseness and deadness, and to give him victory over 
its spirit, maxims, customs, fashions, with all its 


260 the holy spirit's work in regeneration 

pride and pomp and show. Regenerated in the past 
we are renewed in the present, made triumphant, and 
even “more than conquerors," over all the elements of 
worldliness about us. (2) Victory over sin. “He 
that is born of God doth not commit sin: for His 
seed remaineth in him; and he can not sin, because 
he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). “The real signifi- 
cance of John’s expression, ‘he that is born of God,’ 
is not perceived unless we know that the tense of the 
word ‘born’ ( yeyevvrjfxevo «) is the perfect, in the Greek, 
indicating a past birth, but lasting on in its effects."* 
He that has been born of God, and in whom that 
birth is still effective, can not be sinning longer as 
he was wont to do before. He has quit the trade; 
gone out of the business ; lost all inclination toward 
it ; and is filled with horror of it. Hence “he can not 
sin ” Not that it is a physical or an intellectual im- 
possibility, but a moral impossibility so long as his 
new birth continues to be effective. Whenever temp- 
tation presents itself and solicits him toward wrong- 
doing, he recoils from the suggestion, as one would 
recoil from the subtle approach of a venomous ser- 
pent; and his language is, like that of Joseph in the 
presence of the cunning temptress, “How can I do 
this great evil, and sin against God?" (3) Love of 
the "brethren . “By this we know that we have passed 
from death unto life, because we love the brethren" 
(1 John 3: 14). “Beloved, let us love one another: 
for love is of God ; and every one that loveth is born 
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not know- 
eth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:7, 8). The 
Greek word “love" here is not epw?, mere physical or 

♦Bishop Alexander in “Expositor’s Bible.” 


THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES ASSURANCE 


26l 


sensual affinity ; nor yet </>iAia, by which the Greeks ex- 
pressed mere friendship; but the word dyavr rj, which 
means Divine love — a love to which the ancient pagan 
world was a total stranger, “the love of God shed 
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given 
unto us,” and which is the essential principle in re- 
generation. There is no surer external evidence of the 
new birth than ardent love for saints, than genuine 
fellowship for holy people. “By this shall all men 
know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to 
another.” This must be no mere natural affection, 
however ; no mere denominational affinity ; no mutual 
attraction based on natural congeniality ; no delight 
in others because they are of our own race or nation. 
It is a love infinitely transcending all selfish con- 
siderations ; “that overleaps the barriers of sect and 
party, of Church and nation, and fixes its regard on 
every one that loves God and bears His image,” 
esteeming him as a brother in Christ, however poor, 
illiterate, uncomely, and low in the social scale he 
may be, or whatever his race, nationality, color, or 
hereditary defects. (4) Righteousness of life . “If 
ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every 
one that doeth righteousness is born of Him” (1 
John 2:29). Every regenerate heart has received, by 
virtue of its new birth, a Christlike passion for right- 
eousness which is stronger than death. Truth, jus- 
tice, righteousness, goodness, purity — these are 
things dearer to such a man than his own life. He 
knows full well that to deviate willingly in the least 
degree from any of these principles is to dishonor 
God and belie his own profession. It is in his heart 

at all times “to fulfil all righteousness.” He delights 
18 


262 THE HOLY SPIRITS WORK IN REGENERATION 

to render to all their dues — to “render to Ciesar the 
things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that 
are God’s.” His righteousness is no mythical affair — 
the righteousness of Christ imputed, in the Antino- 
mian sense of excusing base unrighteousness in him- 
self — but it is the righteousness of Christ imparted, 
and that to the end that he may love righteousness 
and hate iniquity, and that universal righteousness 
may be his rule of action in all things. It is his meat 
and drink to do the will of his Father in heaven, and 
to prove the genuineness of his discipleship to Christ 
by practising righteousness in all his relations to 
his fellow men. “Little children, let no man deceive 
you : he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as 
He is righteous” (1 John 3:7). 

REGENERATION IS PARTIAL SANCTIFICATION 

Regeneration is incipient but incomplete sanctifi- 
cation. It is sanctification begun, in that it is the 
impartation of the germ or principle of holiness to 
him who receives it. Bishop Randolph S. Foster 
says, “All the principles of holiness are begotten in 
the heart at the instant of regeneration ; entire sanc- 
tification adds not a single new grace.”* Moreover, 
these principles predominate in the life from the 
moment of conversion, to the extent that, as Wesley 
says, “Even babes in Christ are so far saved as not 
to commit sin.” Hence all New Testament believers, 
however immature they may be in Christian experi- 
ence, are designated as “holy brethren.” The Spirit 
by whom they have been regenerated is a Holy 

♦“Christian Purity.” 


REGENERATION IS PARTIAL SANCTIFICATION 263 

Spirit ; and their regeneration by the impartation of 
holy principles is the first stage in the great work 
whereby He is to perfect them in holy character, 
and render them meet for the holy society of heaven. 

They make a serious mistake, however, who con- 
tend, as did Count Zinzendorf, that sanctification is 
completed at the time of regeneration. Potentially 
“Christ is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, 
and sanctification, and redemption,” even from the 
moment when first we savingly believe on Him. But 
it is just as absurd to hold that we then have either 
entire sanctification or complete redemption, as it 
would be to contend that because in the new born 
babe we have potentially the adult man or woman, 
therefore we have actually the adult man or woman. 
The potential sanctification included in regeneration 
must be wrought into actual and conscious experi- 
ence in the heart and life before sanctification is com- 
plete and adult spiritual manhood reached. The 
Scriptures recognize the imperfect state of those 
who are newly born of God, as also of those who 
have failed to advance in spirituality since their re- 
generation, as they should have done. 


XXII 


THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 

The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of holiness,” the 
Sanctifier of God’s people. It is His province to 
sanctify the Church, that it may be presented “as a 
chaste virgin unto Christ” at His coming, “not having 
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should 
be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27). 

The Church can be made holy, however, only 
through the sanctification of the individual mem- 
bers composing it. Hence, in order that He may be 
the Sanctifier of the Church, the Holy Spirit is the 
Sanctifier of individual believers in Christ. Every 
true believer on the Son of God is “elect according to 
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanc- 
tification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2). 

Holiness is indeed “the central idea of Christian- 
ity.” It is the golden thread which runs through the 
whole Bible, binding all its separate parts into one 
harmonious and glorious whole. Dr. (later Bishop) 
Randolph S. Foster, in his admirable book on “Chris- 
tian Purity,” aptly says : “It breathes in the proph- 
ecy, thunders in the law, murmurs in the narrative, 
whispers in the promises, supplicates in the prayers, 
sparkles in the poetry, resounds in the songs, speaks 
in the types, glows in the imagery, voices in the 
264 


THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 265 

language, and burns in the spirit of the whole scheme 
[of redemption], from its alpha to its omega, from 
its beginning to its end. Holiness needed. Holiness 
required. Holiness offered. Holiness attainable. 
Holiness a present duty, a present privilege, a present 
enjoyment, is the process and completeness of its 
wondrous theme. It is the truth glowing all over, 
webbing all through revelation; the glorious truth 
which sparkles, and whispers, and sings, and shouts 
in all its history and biography, and poetry and 
prophecy, and precepts, and promises and prayers; 
the great central truth of the system. The wonder 
is that all do not see, that any rise up to question 
a truth so conspicuous, so glorious, so full of com- 
fort.” 

The Bible is a holy Book. It is the Word of an in- 
finitely holy God, revealing to man the true nature 
of holiness, its absolute necessity, its transcendent 
and eternal benefits, the Divine provision made for its 
attainment by the children of men, the way into this 
gracious experience, the excellent fruits by which the 
experience is evidenced, the glorious destiny to which 
it leads, and the irreparable doom of neglecting such 
a great salvation. It presents the incarnation, death, 
resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ as having 
been comprehended in the Divine method of provid- 
ing complete redemption for sinful men, and the 
Holy Spirit as having been given in His pentecostal 
effusion as a result of Christ’s finished work, and 
as the omnipresent and omnipotent Agent in the ap- 
plication of redemption to believers for their utter- 
most salvation. It is the Spirit’s work to quicken 
from the death of sin ; to regenerate man’s moral and 


2 66 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 

spiritual nature ; to assure him of the forgiveness of 
sins, and of his acceptance with God through Christ ; 
to be his Teacher, Guide, Strengthened Comforter, 
and the Perfecter of his life in Christ. 

SANCTIFICATION BEGUN IN REGENERATION 

The Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification is begun 
and in a goodly degree accomplished in regeneration. 
In this experience a new life is begotten in the soul, 
a life of holy love, which thenceforth takes the ascen- 
dency over all the carnal tendencies of human nature, 
bringing them into habitual subjugation to the law 
of Christ; so that, as Wesley says, “Even babes in 
Christ are so far saved as not to commit sin.” “He 
that is born of God doth not commit sin,” St. John 
says: “for His seed remaineth in him, and he can 
not sin because he is born of God.” Every one who 
becomes an experimental Christian ceases to practise 
sin, and begins to practise holiness, as the rule of his 
life. Holy principles are begotten in his heart, and 
thenceforth have the mastery in his life. Hence it 
is that all Christians are designated in Scripture 
as “holy brethren.” They are so far sanctified, by 
virtue of their conversion, that the power of sin over 
them is broken, and the power of a new and holy 
life in Christ is set up in its stead. Holiness is the 
predominating character of every person justly en- 
titled to be regarded as a Christian. We can not 
insist too strongly on the fact that sanctification has 
its beginning in the work of regeneration. 

But while the Holy Spirit begins the work of sanc- 
tification by the regeneration of the heart and life, 


ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION DEFINED 


267 


it does not follow, nor is it true, that the work of 
sanctification is completed at the time of regenera- 
tion. The power of sin is broken, but its presence, 
in the form of sinful principles and propensities, is 
still within, and is a constant source of danger. It 
is like inflammable material in the basement of one’s 
house, where it is likely at any moment to come in 
contact with fire and result in explosion, or conflagra- 
tion, or both. It is a foe which lurks within the 
citadel awaiting the opportunity to betray it to its 
final overthrow, and which, when detected and re- 
sisted, struggles mightily for the mastery. “The 
flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against 
the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the other : 
so that ye can not do the things that ye would” (Gal. 
5 : 17). Both the Scriptures and the common experi- 
ence of Christians, the world over, alike declare the 
falsity of Count Zinzendorf s teaching, that sancti- 
fication is complete at the time of regeneration; or, 
that “all true believers are not only saved from the 
dominion of sin, but from the being of inward as well 
as outward sin, so that it no longer remains in 
them.”* 


ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION DEFINED 

But what is complete sanctification? and wherein 
does it differ from the experience of regeneration? 
Entire sanctification is deliverance from all inward 
sin — from evil thoughts and evil tempers. It is a 
state in which no wrong tempers, dispositions, or 
affections remain in the soul; but in which all the 

♦Quoted from Wesley. 


268 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 

thoughts, words, and actions are governed by pure 
love. Regeneration is a work of grace within the 
heart which effects a change of our moral state and 
character, emancipating us from the dominion and 
love of sin, planting the principle of obedience in the 
heart, and restoring the soul to the image of God. 
As to the difference between this experience and that 
of entire sanctification, the late Rev. William 
McDonald has well expressed it as follows : 

1. In regeneration, sin does not reign; in sanctification, 
it does not exist. 

2. In regeneration, sin is suspended; in sanctification, it 
is destroyed. 

3. In regeneration, irregular desires — anger, pride, unbe- 
lief, envy, etc. — are subdued; in sanctification, they are re- 
moved. 

4. Regeneration is salvation from the voluntary commis- 
sion of sin; sanctification is salvation from the being of sin. 

5. Regeneration is the old man bound; sanctification is 
the old man cast out and spoiled of his goods. 

6. Regeneration is sanctification begun ; entire sanctifica- 
tion is the work completed. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTS BELIEVERS OF THE NEED OF 
HOLINESS 

The Spirit of God enlightens believers as to their 
need of being sanctified as a means of leading them 
into the experience. He convicts them of inbred sin, 
makes them feel and loathe the plague within, and 
leads them to humble themselves and cry mightily 
to God for deliverance. Conviction for sanctification 
is not conviction of guilt for wrong done or for 
duty neglected. It is not in any sense a conviction of 
having backslidden from God. On the other hand it 


CONVICTS BELIEVERS OP THE NEED OP HOLINESS 269 

presupposes present consciousness of walking in the 
light, and enjoying full justification from all past 
offenses and failures, through faith in the atoning 
merits of Jesus Christ. But the conviction of which 
we speak is a painful consciousness that, while we 
are fully justified from all past transgressions and 
derelictions, there is a principle of sin within us, 
which clings to our very thoughts, tempers, and de- 
sires, evermore seeking the ascendency in outward 
conduct, defiling the inward man in every part, and 
from which we should and must be cleansed before 
we can fully glorify God and enjoy uninterrupted 
communion with Him. 

This conviction is accomplished by the Spirit in 
two ways : first, by those inward operations through 
which He sheds light upon the soul, and reveals to 
it its own corruptions, still remaining since the work 
of regeneration has been effected; and secondly, by 
so illuminating the Scriptures to the understanding 
as to make these reveal to him the necessity and 
privilege of being made altogether holy. Sometimes 
the disclosures thus made of inbred sin are well-nigh 
overwhelming, and cause the soul to doubt for the 
time being whether it can be possible that he has ever 
been truly converted. “How can one be a true child 
of God,” he asks himself, “in whom there is so much 
moral impurity and such a painful sense of unlike- 
ness to the moral character of God ?” To be led from 
the raptures of a sense of reconciliation with God 
into such a humiliating and painful consciousness of 
inward unfitness for His holy presence, is, for the 
time being, a melancholy experience; but by this ex- 
perience the Holy Spirit is seeking to lead the soul, 


27O THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 

not to disparage the work already accomplished in 
its regeneration, but to aspire for and definitely seek 
after that “higher life” in Christ, that full conform- 
ity to the character and will of God, which is attain- 
able through faith in the blood of Jesus. 

REVEALS THE POSSIBILITY 

The Holy Spirit not only shows the believer the 
need of this higher work, but in doing so He likewise 
reveals the assured possibility of receiving it. He so 
illuminates the commands, precepts, prayers, prom- 
ises and provisions of the Scriptures bearing upon 
this very point that the conviction of its glorious pos- 
sibility becomes not only assured, but a mighty in- 
centive to seek it at every cost, and a mighty uplift 
and inspiration to the faith which is necessary to its 
attainment. Thus assured, uplifted and inspired 
with a vision of the glorious possibility, the soul ad- 
vances to the realization of the desired object saying, 

“The thing surpasses all my thought, 

But faithful is the Lord; 

Through unbelief I stagger not, 

For God has spoke the word. 

“Faith, mighty faith the promise sees, 

And looks to that alone; 

Laughs at impossibilities, 

And cries, ‘It shall be done l* 

“Obedient faith that waits on Thee, 

Thou never wilt reprove; 

But Thou wilt form Thy Son in me, 

And perfect me in love.” 

Blessed be God ! the Comforter who convinces of the neces- 
sity of this work points us also to the possibility of its en- 


LEADS TOWARD PERFECTION 


271 


joyment. Our blessed Savior in His intercessory prayer says, 
“Sanctify them through Thy truth : Thy Word is truth” 
(John 17:17). So the Holy Spirit who inspired the Word 
brings to mind the promises and assurances, and reveals the 
rich provisions of infinite love. Does the child of God groan 
over his impurities and corruptions? He is pointed to the 
fountain over which is written, “The blood of Jesus Christ 
His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Does he 
sigh over his want of conformity to God? He is assured 
that, beholding with open face as in a glass the glory of the 
Lord, he shall be changed [fieTa/xop^oi/xeda, metamor- 
phosed] into the same image, from glory to glory, even as 
by the Lord the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3 : 18.) Does he doubt whether 
this is his great privilege? Again the Spirit speaks in His 
Word, “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” 
He is thus led to see that, such is the amplitude of the pro- 
vision, such is the all-cleansing power of the blood of Christ, 
such is the almightiness of the Eternal Spirit, that no mat- 
ter what he may be, the work can be done ; and whenever, 
at any stage of the believer’s experience, his faith lays hold 
of these great promises and provisions, the work will be done. 
According to his faith will it be done unto him.* 


LEADS TOWARD PERFECTION BY PROMOTING GROWTH IN 

GRACE 

The Holy Spirit also leads the believer on toward 
perfection or entire sanctification through promoting 
his growth in grace. There is a growth in grace be- 
fore one is sanctified, and a more rapid and healthful 
growth in grace after sanctification is experienced. 
All growth in grace preceding the experience of sanc- 
tification is a gradual approach to the point where 
sanctification will be complete. “Are we to under- 
stand, then, that entire sanctification is finally 
reached by a gradual process,” some one may inquire. 

♦Dunn’s “Mission of the Spirit,” pp. 184, 185. 


272 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 

No. That is not the idea. To use Mr. Wesley’s fig- 
ure, death is reached through a process of dying, 
which may be longer or shorter in its continuance; 
but the man is never dead until the process has 
ended, and a crisis has occurred. So that we may say 
of death it is both a process and a crisis. However 
long the process may be continued, the crisis must be 
reached wherein death is complete. That crisis in 
case of a man dying must of necessity be, instanta- 
neous. Just so with a soul seeking holiness. Under 
the quickening, illuminating, prompting, and guid- 
ance of the Holy Spirit, he is led more and more to 
“mortify the deeds of the flesh,” or continually to die 
to sin, which is a process comparable to the gradual 
approach of physical death. “For if ye live after the 
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do 
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 
8: 13). But as sure as the gradual process of dying 
physically leads to an instantaneous crisis in which 
physical death is complete, just so surely will con- 
stant growth in grace and the corresponding process 
of dying to sin bring one at last to that spiritual 
crisis where he is “dead indeed unto sin” in the deep- 
est meaning of the term, “and alive unto God through 
Jesus Christ.” Moreover, the crisis will be instanta- 
neous in this case, as well as in the former one. 

In the mean time, however, it is the work of the 
Holy Spirit to lead the soul more and more to that 
self- judgment of his own inbred sin, and to that out- 
ward purification of himself in the new light shed 
upon him, which will bring him nearer to God and 
into deeper fellowship with Him, and which will be- 
get within him deeper loathing of his own impurity 


LEADS TO PINAL SELF-CONSECRATION 


273 


and intenser hungering and thirsting after “all the 
fulness of God.” Without this he can not attain 
unto that deep and abiding rest of soul which he sees 
to be his privilege in Christ. This is one of the ways 
in which the Spirit promotes growth in grace on the 
part of believers. Then, too, He broadens, deepens, 
and clarifies the vision of the soul regarding the 
Scriptures and the things of the kingdom of God. He 
also brings before it the numberless incentives to ut- 
ter self-abandonment, and to following on to know 
the Lord in the fulness of His saving power, as well 
as revealing to him in ever deeper measure the disas- 
trous consequence of allowing the light that is in him 
to become darkness; and thereby He both lures and 
spurs the soul on in exercising itself unto godliness, 
and seeking to be perfect, even as its Father in heaven 
is perfect. “As many as are [thus] led by the Spirit 
of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). 
While led by the Spirit, they continually fulfil the 
precept, “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our 
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ;” and this growth in- 
volves increasing sanctification, and brings them con- 
stantly toward the point where the crisis will be 
reached in which their sanctification will be com- 
plete. There is a sense in which such souls can 
truly say, “I die daily.” 


LEADS TO FINAL AND PERMANENT SELF-CONSECRATION 

The Spirit of God likewise leads the believer to that 
final and permanent act of self-consecration to God 
which his increased light upon the character and 
claims of the Almighty shows him is required as a 


274 


THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 


prerequisite to being sanctified wholly. In order to 
sanctify us wholly God must have us wholly. In 
other words, we must yield ourselves to Him in utter 
self-abandonment, passive in His hands as clay in 
the hands of the potter, before it is at all possible for 
Him to consummate the work within us. “I beseech 
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
ye present your bodies [including your entire man- 
hood] a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 
which is your reasonable service; and be not con- 
formed to this world : but be ye transformed by the 
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is 
that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” 
(Rom. 12: 1, 2). The Spirit of God alone can enable 
us to present such a sacrifice to God ; but when once 
it is made, through the power of the Spirit, we shall 
quickly prove the will of God to be in all things 
“good, and acceptable, and perfect.” Such a consecra- 
tion is a condition of knowing the will of God, and 
also of being brought into full and perfect harmony 
therewith. Consecration, in the sense of separation 
and dedication unto God, is our part of sanctifica- 
tion ; but it is very far from being the whole of the 
experience. Hence those who are taught to conse- 
crate themselves to God, and then to rest in that act 
of consecration, on the supposition that they have 
put themselves upon the altar, and that “the altar 
sanctifieth the gift” (which is not true in this sense, 
although it is in another sense), are being misled, 
and are apt to rest in their own doing instead of rest- 
ing alone on the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Our 
own consecration no more saves us than any other 
work in which we might trust. But when full and 


AUTHOR OF THE FAITH WHICH SANCTIFIES 275 

complete it brings us to where, and to the only point 
where, it is at all possible to exercise that appropri- 
ating faith in Jesus which will bring the realization 
that His part of the work is done as well as ours, and 
that we are now cleansed from all sin, or wholly 
sanctified. 

) 

AUTHOR OF THE FAITH WHICH SANCTIFIES 

But faith is the final and absolute condition of our 
sanctification ; and the Spirit of God develops in fully 
surrendered hearts that faith which lays hold upon 
the promises, appropriates them, and realizes their 
fulfilment. “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, 
He shall guide you into all truth.” “He shall glorify 
Me,” the Master said ; “for He shall receive of Mine, 
and shall show it unto you.” “He shall teach you all 
things.” “He shall bring all things to your remem- 
brance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” By this 
work of teaching, guiding, quickening the memory 
regarding Christ’s words, and revealing the things 
of Christ, the Spirit gives us strong ground for our 
faith to stand upon ; sets the object of faith before us 
in the most transparent light ; and enables us to grasp 
and hold that object unwaveringly in the face of what- 
ever would occasion our staggering or failure. The 
Holy Spirit stimulates, strengthens, steadies us in our 
attitude of faith in God, through Jesus Christ, as we 
yield ourselves to Him in willing and trustful sur- 
render. Thus our faith grows strong, and we are 
finally enabled to say: 

“Bold I approach the eternal throne, 

And claim the orown through Christ my own.” 


276 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 

The last thing we can do to bring a realization of 
the blessing as in actual possession is to close in with 
God hy faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
thou shalt be saved.” The heavens and the earth may 
fail, but this Word of Jehovah can never fail. It is 
true yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. There may 
have been failure on our part, but it is impossible on 
God’s part. Nor can the prayer prompted by the 
Holy Spirit and offered in true faith ever be in vain, 
whatever suggestions to the contrary may assail us. 

“Unanswered yet? Faith can not be unanswered ; 

Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock ; 

Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted, 

Nor quails before the loudest thunder-shock. 

She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer, 

And cries, ‘It shall be done, sometime, somewhere.’ ” 

But our faith must get beyond saying “It shall be 
done, sometime, somewhere,” and must be embold- 
ened to claim the blessing now, before the experience 
can be realized. 

“But what is the faith by which we are sanctified,” 
it may be asked. No better answer can be given to 
this question than that which Mr. Wesley has fur- 
nished. Speaking of “the faith by which we are sanc- 
tified, saved from sin, and perfected in love,” he says : 

This faith is a Divine evidence or conviction 

1. That God hath 'promised this sanctification in the Holy 
Scriptures. 

2. It is a Divine evidence or conviction that what God 
hath promised He is able to perform. 

3. It is a Divine evidence or conviction that He is able 
and willing to do it now. 

4. To this confidence that God is able and willing to do it 


THE AUTHOR OP ASSURANCE 277 

now , there needs to be one thing more — a Divine evidence or 
conviction that He doth it 

THE AUTHOR OF ASSURANCE 

Such a faith will inevitably result in assurance. 
“He that believeth hath the witness in himself.” It 
will bring a blessed consciousness of the incoming and 
infilling of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Comforter, the 
Almighty Sanctifier; and He is the witness to His 
own accomplished work. “As it is written, Eye hath 
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love Him. But God hath revealed 
them unto us by His Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth 
all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what 
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of 
man which is in him? Even so the things of God 
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we 
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the 
Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things 
that are freely given to us of God” (1 Cor. 2: 9-12). 
The various experiences of Divine grace are among 
the things which are freely given to us of God, and 
therefore are among the things which we lmow by the 
revealing of the Holy Spirit. One may know when he 
is sanctified as certainly and as satisfactorily as 
when he is justified. Every seeker of this grace 
should claim it by faith, and hold steadfast in this 
faith, until his faith is sealed with assurance that the 
Comforter has come and has finished His gracious 
work. Then he can sing exultingly, from a deep con- 
sciousness that his heart is made pure, 

19 


278 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 

“ ’Tis done ! Thou dost this moment save, 
With full salvation bless; 

Redemption through Thy blood I have, 
And spotless love and peace.” 


SOME THINGS SANCTIFICATION WILL NOT DO 

But there are some things that the experience of 
entire sanctification will not do for those who re- 
ceive it. First, it will not render them perfect in the 
sense of being infallible. The fully sanctified do not 
attain unto absolute perfection, which belongs to God 
alone ; nor to the perfection of angels, who were cre- 
ated pure, spiritual beings, and have a perfection of 
sinlessness and intelligence which we can not attain 
unto while in the flesh; nor to the perfection of the 
unfallen Adam in his Paradisiacal estate ; nor to any 
state of human perfection such as exempts from 
errors in judgment and consequent errors in prac- 
tise, from numberless infirmities of mind and body, 
from subtle and powerful assaults of temptation, or 
from fallibility of any kind and the possibility of 
backsliding. Satan will contend every inch of the 
ground from the place where one is sanctified until 
he is safely within the gates of the celestial city. It 
will be our only safety to “watch, and fight, and 
pray,” mustering all the faith and courage we can 
command at all times. The character of the assaults 
upon the faith and love and patience of the sanctified 
may be changed, but they will never be very long with- 
out something of the kind occasioning the necessity 
for vigilance, wisdom, courage, and strength. 

Second, the experience of holiness will not super- 


SOME THINGS SANCTIFICATION WILL NOT DO 279 

sede the possibility and necessity of growth in grace. 
Some have urged as an objection to this doctrine that 
if one were fully sanctified he could no longer grow 
in grace. How absurd! As well might one caution 
a lady against getting all the weeds out of her flower 
bed, because if she gets all the weeds out the flowers 
can grow no more. She would suspect such a man 
of having escaped from a lunatic asylum ; and, unless 
she regarded him as dangerous, would proceed with 
her work in the calm assurance that the more free she 
could make the flower bed from weeds the more rapid- 
ly and healthily the flowers would grow. “After a 
soul is cleansed from all sin, it is then fully prepared 
to grow in grace.” Moreover, it is not only possible 
to grow in grace after one has been sanctified, but it 
is absolutely necessary, in order to maintain the 
ground already occupied, and retain the experience 
already received. The rule in the kingdom of Christ 
is, “To him that hath shall be given, and he shall 
have abundance; but from him that hath not shall 
be taken away even that which he hath.” This was 
spoken by our Lord regarding the matter of improv- 
ing or failing to improve upon the talents entrusted 
to the servants during their lord’s absence. Is it not 
equally pertinent here? The lesson should be laid 
diligently to heart by all. 

Third, the experience of entire sanctification in no 
sense excludes the need of a Mediator on the part of 
those who receive it. It has been ignorantly objected 
to the doctrine that, if it be true that men may be 
sanctified wholly in the present life, such an ex- 
perience would place them beyond further need of the 
mediation of Christ. Such an objection is wholly 


28 o 


THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SANCTIFICATION 


without foundation. Entire sanctification is derived 
only through the mediation of Christ, and the ex- 
perience is continuously dependent upon faith in that 
mediation. All spiritual blessings are perpetually 
conditioned upon our relation to Christ as Mediator, 
“who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteous- 
ness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 
1 : 30). Even the redeemed before the throne of God 
stand there only through the mediation of the Son of 
God. (Rev. 7: 15.) 

“I ask them whence their vict’ry came; 

They, with united breath, 

Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb, 

Their triumph to His death.” 

The holiest souls are the most deeply conscious of 
their need of the atonement. The holy life is ever a 
“life of faith on the Son of God.” All the fruits of 
Christian holiness are conditioned upon our abiding 
in Christ, the living Vine. The sanctified believer re- 
joices in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:3); walks in Christ 
Jesus (Col. 2:6); glories in His Cross (Gal. 6: 14) ; 
does all things in His name (Col. 3: 17) ; constantly 
looks and longs for His appearing to claim the king- 
dom for Himself and for His Bride. (Tit. 2 : 13 ; Rev. 
22:20.) His is the life that is “hid with Christ in 
God” (Col. 3:3); “and never does he so fully compre- 
hend the preciousness of Jesus as when he has put 
away the evil and bitter thing which Christ hateth.” 

THE HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCES HOLY FRUIT 

The Holy Spirit invariably produces the fruit of 
holiness in all who are truly sanctified. Vain, and 


THE HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCES HOLY FRUIT 28l 


positively damaging and wicked, is all profession of 
holiness that is unaccompanied by corresponding 
fruit. “Either make the tree good and his fruit good, 
or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt.” 
Nothing is surer than that the tree is known by its 
fruit. “But now being made free from sin, and be- 
come servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holi- 
ness, and the end everlasting life” (Rom. 6:22). “The 
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: 
against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22, 23). The 
one fruit of holy character which comprehends all 
others is love. “He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in 
God, and God in him. Herein is our love made per- 
fect, that we may have boldness in the day of judg- 
ment : because as He is so are we in this world. There 
is no fear in love; because perfect love casteth out 
fear : because fear hath torment. He that feareth is 
not made perfect in love” (1 John 4: 16-18). 

To love God with all the heart, soul, mind and 
strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is to 
manifest the fruit of sanctification or holiness. This 
is the sum total of Christian perfection. 


XXIII 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 
WHAT IS THE CHURCH 

In its New Testament sense the word church 
(iKK\r/(TLa) never has reference, as is frequently the 
case with us, to either the building in which Chris- 
tians assemble for worship, or to any particular sect 
or denomination professing to be followers of Christ. 
Rather “it means an unorganized body, whose unity 
does not depend on its being met together in one 
place; not an assemblage of atoms, but members in 
their several places united to the One Head, Christ, 
and forming one organic living whole. (1 Cor. 12.) 
The bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-32; 1:22), the body 
of which He is the Head. The household of Christ 
and of God. (Matt. 10: 25; Eph. 2: 19.) The temple 
of the Holy Ghost, made up of living stones. (Eph. 
2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Pet. 2:5.)”* 

Occasionally the term is used to represent one or 
more particular Christian associations, and may be 
composed of members few enough to worship together 
in a private house (Rom. 16:5) ; but it is a term gen- 
erally used to designate the whole body of Christian 
believers in every age and place — “the general As- 
sembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are writ- 
ten in heaven.” 

♦Canon Faussett, “Bible Cyclopedia,” Art. “Church.” 

282 


WHAT IS THE CHURCH 


283 


As a New Testament institution the Church had its 
origin in the memorable “upper room” at Jerusalem, 
at the first Pentecost following the resurrection and 
ascension of Christ. He had promised to send the 
Comforter ; had assured the disciples that they 
should be “baptized with the Holy Ghost not many 
days hence;” that they should “receive power after 
that the Holy Ghost was come upon them;” and had 
bidden them “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until” 
the promised enduement should be received, after 
which they were to be His witnesses “to the utter- 
most part of the earth.” What expectations the 
Master’s words must have raised within them ! 
What hopes and longings must they have begotten! 
With what intense anxiety would these humble fol- 
lowers of Jesus await the fulfilment of His words! 

Accordingly, after witnessing the ascension of the 
Master, the eleven disciples returned to Jerusalem, 
and went into “an upper room, where abode both 
Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip 
and Thomas, Bartholomew, James the son of Alphse- 
us, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of 
James. These all continued with one accord in 
prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary 
the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren” (Acts 
1 : 13 , 14 ). 

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they 
were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, 
and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And 
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, 
and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as 
the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4.) 


284 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 

BIRTHDAY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

Such was the birthday of the Christian Church — 
such were the circumstances under which Christian- 
ity took on organic form; received as its credential 
to all the world and to the end of time the promised 
Chrism from above ; entered uponits mission of evan- 
gelizing the nations; and began to exercise those 
varied spiritual “gifts” for the bestowment of which 
Jesus Christ had ascended to the Father. The Chris- 
tian Church was born of the Holy Ghost ; born from 
above; born to a spiritual and eternal life through 
Christ; and born to a destiny in which its individual 
members shall finally “all come in the unity of the 
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4: 13) ; to a destiny of joint- 
heirship with Him to all that glory which He re- 
ceived from the Father (Rom. 8:17; John 17:22), 
and of eternal partnership with Him as “the bride, 
the Lamb’s wife” (Rev. 21 : 9). The “New Creation,” 
like the creation of old, was due to the brooding of 
the Spirit of God upon the elements of chaos, like a 
dove upon her eggs, communicating vital warmth, 
and bringing forth abundant life. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 

The Holy Spirit, therefore, is the very life of the 
Church as a spiritual society. He is “the Spirit of 
life,” and where He is not energetically present, 
spiritual life is utterly impossible. Exclude the Holy 
Spirit from a so-called Christian assembly, and, 


Christ’s agent in headship of the church 285 

though it may remain strictly orthodox, absolutely 
loyal to its early traditions, and may retain the punc- 
tual observance of New Testament forms of worship, 
spiritually it will be as dead as an Egyptian mummy. 
Every accession to such an organization only in- 
creases the bulk of the carcass. It may take to itself 
much of earthly pomp and glory, and seek thereby to 
appeal to the physical senses of men and women, but 
this will in no wise relieve the situation. It is a case 
of death ; and the more you paint and decorate a 
corpse the more ridiculous you will make both your- 
self and it appear. The only hope for such a church 
is that some modern Ezekiel will come along, who 
will have the courage to preach the Word of the Lord 
to the dry bones until there is a noise and a shaking, 
and until the bones come together, bone to his bone, 
and sinews come upon them, and flesh covers them; 
and then, at the command of Jehovah, to “prophesy 
unto the wind,” and say, “Come from the four winds, 
O Breath [Spirit], and breathe upon these slain that 
they may live,” until “the Breath enters into them,” 
and “they live and stand upon their feet, an exceed- 
ing great army” (Ezek. 37:1-10). 

Christ's agent in headship of the church 

The Holy Spirit is the omnipresent Agent by whom 
Jesus Christ exercises His Headship over the Church. 
God “gave Him to be Head over all things to the 
Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that 
filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22, 23). As Head of the 
Church Jesus Christ must direct all its movements, 
and be the chief Supervisor of all its affairs. But He 


286 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 


has withdrawn His bodily presence from the Church 
in its earthly state, and has sent the Paraclete, the 
Holy Spirit, an invisible and universal Presence, in 
its stead, to administer the affairs of that Headship. 
Hence, as Dougan Clark, M. D., has admirably ex- 
pressed himself on this topic, 

Both the service and the worship of God’s people — the 
former typified in the Mosaic ritual by the work of the 
Levites; the latter, by that of the priests — are to be under 
the direction of the Holy Spirit. Upon the individual be- 
lievers He bestows a variety of gifts, to be exercised for the 
good of the body. And He Himself presides, invisibly but 
really, over every assembly of true worshipers.* 

The true worshipers are such as “worship the 
Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh 
such to worship Him” (John 4 : 23). The Holy Spirit 
Himself, as the Spirit of Christ, presides over all 
such assemblies as thus worship the Father. It is by 
the Holy Spirit that Jesus meets with every as- 
sembly, however few their number, that are gathered 
in His name. The Spirit of God is the Inspirer of 
all true worship. He indites the prayers of saints. 
He inspires their praises. He kindles the flame of 
devotion within their hearts, and enables them to 
“offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God 
through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). But if He is 
to direct in the worship of Christian assemblies, He 
must be honored by being sought unto for such direc- 
tion, as also by being allowed unrestrained operation 
among the people. Independent as the wind, which 
is His symbol, He will no more submit to any pre- 
scribed formula in His operation and manifestation, 

♦“Offices of the Holy Spirit,” p. 215. 


Christ’s agent in headship of the church 287 

than the wind will be directed or restrained by hu- 
man dictum. 

Christ fulfilled, superseded, and forever abolished 
the typical priesthood of the Old Dispensation when 
He offered up Himself, the “one sacrifice for sins for 
ever,” “entered once into the holy place, having ob- 
tained eternal redemption for us,” “and sat down 
on the right hand of God.” But He abolished the Old 
that He might introduce the New ; He put an end to 
the carnal that He might make way for the spiritual ; 
He caused the temporal to pass away, that it might 
be superseded by the eternal. Now He Himself has 
become the eternal King-Priest of His people ; and in 
Him true believers have become “a kingdom of 
priests,” “a spiritual priesthood, to offer spiritual 
sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 

As a “kingdom of priests” all believers, by virtue 
of their union with Christ, the eternal King-Priest 
who is their ever-living Head through the Spirit, are 
invested with both regal and priestly dignities. 
Hence, inasmuch as they all are priests, it follows 
that each can perform his own acts of worship, with 
no human mediator to come between him and the Ob- 
ject of his worship. He not only may, but must , do 
this, if he would offer acceptable worship to the Most 
High God. “God is a Spirit ; and they that worship 
Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” 
Only they who rise to the dignity of the true, spiritual 
priesthood can render Him such worship. 

Pompous display and impressive ritual are not 
only unnecessary to such worship, whether private or 
public, but are almost sure to prove a hindrance. 
They minister to the sensuousness of men and women, 


288 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 


rather than to pure spiritual devotion. The first es- 
sential of true worship is that it be spiritual; that 
the worshiper “offer up spiritual sacrifices, accept- 
able to God, through Jesus Christ.” Whatever, aside 
from Christ the Mediator, is allowed to come between 
the soul and God will eclipse the vision of Him who 
is the Object of our worship, and will necessarily 
hinder the spontaneous flow of spiritual devotion. 
True worship being spiritual, it may be acceptably 
performed wherever the sincere heart is uplifted to 
God in adoring reverence and love. It may be accom- 
panied by simple outward forms of devotion, but 
these are not essential to such worship. It may be 
with or without such forms ; it may be audible or in 
silence ; it may be characterized by 

“That speechless awe that dares not move,” 

or it may be accompanied with “a sound from heaven 
as of a rushing mighty wind,” as on the day of Pente- 
cost. The one thing essential is that it be spiritual 
worship — worship prompted by the Holy Spirit of 
God. Hence those who contend for worshiping God 
in silence only, and they who contend for noisy dem- 
onstrations in worship; those who over-magnify ex- 
ternal rites and forms, and they who set all forms 
at nought, contending for silent and formless devo- 
tion as the only rule ; those who put excessive stress 
on individualism in worship, and they who would so 
merge the individual in the mass as to rob worship of 
all individuality, and make all worshipers just alike; 
these all do violence to psychological law, to the 
Christian Scriptures, and to the very nature of 
Christian worship. 


THE BESTOWER OF DIVERSIFIED GIFTS 289 


THE BESTOWER OF DIVERSIFIED GIFTS 

Christ exercises His Headship over the service of 
His people through the Holy Spirit in the bestow- 
ment of the various “gifts” needful for the edification 
of the body as a whole. As chapters are elsewhere 
devoted to the “Gifts of the Spirit,” little need be 
said on that subject here. It should be noted by all, 
however, that there is a wide difference between the 
“gift of the Holy Spirit” and the “ gifts of the 
Spirit.” The former is the communication of the 
Holy Spirit Himself to the believer as the indwelling 
Comforter and Sanctifier ; while the latter are special 
enduements of faith, wisdom, knowledge, power, dis- 
cernment, healing, miracle-working, etc. ; or, in other 
cases, special adaptations to varied ministries and 
functions for the edification of the body of Christ. 
The former is the blood-bought heritage and birth- 
right of every believer ; the latter are for the Church 
as a whole, but are distributed among its members 
by the Holy Spirit, who distributes them “to every 
man severally as He will” (1 Cor. 12:11). 

Much confusion has at times been wrought by fail- 
ing to recognize that these special or extraordinary 
“gifts” are for the Church as a whole, but that no 
one of them is for every member of the Church. “Now 
there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 
And there are diversities of administrations, but the 
same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, 
but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (1 
Cor. 12: 4-7). The gift of the Holy Spirit is for all 
believers, and on conditions that may be equally met 
by all ; but the “gifts” of the Spirit are conditioned 


290 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 


upon tlie Sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in their com- 
munication and distribution. “To one is given by the 
Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of 
knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith [not 
the grace of faith, but faith of an extraordinary char- 
acter as a gift or entitlement ] by the same Spirit ; to 
another gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to an- 
other the working of miracles ; to another prophecy ; 
to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the 
interpretation of tongues : but all these worketh that 
one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man 
severally as He will” (1 Cor. 12: 4-11). 

THE SPIRIT APPOINTS TO VARIOUS MINISTRIES 

In exercising His Headship over the Church 
through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ calls or ap- 
points men and women to various ministries, all 
tending to the edification of the body as a whole. 
“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; 
and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and 
teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for 
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body 
of Christ : till we all come in the unity of the faith, 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a per- 
fect man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful- 
ness of Christ” (Eph. 4 : 11-13) . Quite similar to this 
are Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 12 : 28 : “And God hath 
set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily 
prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then 
gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of 
tongues.” 

God has made room for the employment of various 


SECURES AGAINST FALSE DOCTRINE 


29I 


classes of ministers in His Church, to each of which 
is given his own particular field of operations, but all 
of which are to be “laborers together with God” for 
the general edification of the body of which they 
form a part. The nearer any branch of the Church 
comes to recognizing this order in the practical work- 
ing of its system, the more will the Holy Spirit be 
honored, and the more abundantly will He make the 
manifestation of His presence a contributing factor 
in its success. But further remarks on this topic 
will be reserved for the chapter on “The Holy Spirit 
and the Christian Ministry.” 


SECURES AGAINST FALSE DOCTRINE 

The Holy Spirit properly recognized and honored 
is the best security of the Church against false doc- 
trine. There always have been teachers of heresy, 
and there always will be such until the Lord Himself 
shall come. The Church is bidden to “try the spirits, 
whether they be of God : because many false prophets 
are gone out into the world.” Moreover, this is the 
test by which every teacher and every teaching is to 
be tried : “Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is 
that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that 
it should come; and even now already is it in the 
world” (1 John 4:1-3). 

Gnosticism, Spiritism, Mormonism, Eddyism, Rus- 
sellism, and the destructive type of Higher Criticism, 
practically deny that Jesus Christ is come in the 
flesh, and are everywhere leavening the Church to a 
greater or less degree with corrupt and pernicious 


292 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 


doctrines; and thousands are beguiled by these 
various systems of error, and that to their spiritual 
undoing. Nearly all the more colossal systems of 
modern heresy have won their adherents almost 
wholly from among the members of orthodox 
churches. Why is it so ? Is it not largely or chiefly 
due to the low state of spirituality generally prevail- 
ing in the churches? Would not pentecostal condi- 
tions, such as are described in the Second Chapter of 
the Acts of the Apostles, have prevented such havoc 
from being made in the flock of God? And is not a 
return to Pentecost the Church’s only security 
against such depredations in time to come? 

In fact, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, some- 
times called the a unction from the Holy One,” “the 
anointing,” etc., is given to the very end that be- 
lievers may be safeguarded from all damaging error. 
“But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye 
know all things” (1 John 2:20). “But the anointing 
which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and 
ye need not that any man teach you : but as the same 
anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, 
and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall 
abide in Him” (1 John 2:27). The “unction” and 
“anointing” here mentioned are nothing more nor less 
than “the gift of the Holy Ghost,” the indwelling 
Comforter and Sanctifier, in pentecostal effusion. 

These passages must be interpreted by John 
14:26: “The Holy Ghost, whom the Father will 
send in My name, He shall teach you all things, 
and bring all things to your remembrance, whatso- 
ever I have said unto you ” Here the meaning of 
“shall teach you all things” is limited by the expres- 


SECURES AGAINST FALSE DOCTRINE 


293 


sion, “whatsoever I have said unto you.” Moreover, 
the limitation which John expresses in his Gospel is 
as clearly implied in the utterances from his First 
Epistle. Thus interpreted there is no exaggeration 
in what he ascribes to the “unction” or “anointing 
from the Holy One” teaching God’s people all things. 

The saying is chiefly true of believers as a whole, 
and yet there is a measure of this truth to which 
every member in the body of Christ has a birthright. 
“There is a Teacher in the heart who has a chair in 
heaven.” It is His specific mission so to illuminate 
the minds of God’s children regarding all essential 
truth as to secure them against the subtleties of 
Satan, and of all the bewitching forms of satanic 
error. He creates a soul-sensitiveness to the ap- 
proach of error which amounts, as Dr. Joseph Parker 
has said, “to a well-nigh infallible instinct.” If 
antichrist is ever refuted, it must be as a result of 
that Chrism from Christ which St. John calls “an 
unction from the Holy One,” and “the anointing that 
abideth.” Secured by this, “antichrist shall not lay 
his unhallowing, disanointing hand upon you. As a 
result of this, ‘ye know all things’ requisite to dis- 
criminating between essential truth and those subtle 
forms of error whereby Satan would lead you astray.” 
It is by this that our Savior has provided for the 
highest possible security of His people as a whole, 
and of each individual member of the Church of God, 
consistent with their moral agency and with proba- 
tionary life. 

But this security is conditioned upon living in the 
Spirit, walking in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, 

honoring the Spirit at all times and in all ways. 

20 


294 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 


Those who quench the Spirit, grieve the Spirit, re- 
sist the Spirit, vex the Spirit, by following after 
carnal things, by the indulgence of fleshly disposi- 
tions, by manifesting unholy tempers, words or 
actions, or by any kind of compromising with in- 
iquity, can not enjoy the immunity from being cor- 
rupted, or led astray by error, of which we have been 
speaking. He is preeminently a Holy Spirit ; and to 
enjoy His ministry in the heart whatsoever is known 
or believed to be unholy must be put away for ever 
from our lives. He is also preeminently a Holy 
Spirit, and can have no affinity with that which is 
unspiritual ; therefore whatsoever is unspiritual 
must be entirely abandoned, if we would have se- 
curity in fellowship with Him. “For if ye live after 
the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit 
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For 
to be carnally minded is death ; but to be spiritually 
minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:5, 6). 

THE UNIFIER OF THE CHURCH 

The Holy Spirit is the great Unifier of the Church. 
The ultimate ideal of unity to be attained by the 
Church is embodied in the expression, “in the unity 
of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” 
The full realization of this ideal awaits the second 
coming of Christ. When He shall be manifested in 
glory among the children of men, and His saints shall 
see Him face to face, there will be a unity of faith 
and knowledge among His disciples which is impos- 
sible while we are compelled to “see through a glass 
darkly” and to “know in part” only. There is an 


THE UNIFIER OF THE CHURCH 


295 


ideal of unity for the Church of Christ attainable 
here and now. It is not a unity of faith, or of knowl- 
edge, but “the unity of the Spirit ” “ I therefore, the 
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk 
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with 
all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, en- 
deavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3). This is the unity after 
which all Christians should earnestly strive, by seek- 
ing to cultivate fellowship for all others who are true 
disciples of Jesus. “The unity of the Spirit” is the 
unity of fellowship which is begotten of the Spirit. 
“And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and 
with His Son Jesus Christ,” says the beloved disciple. 
The Holy Spirit is continually working within be- 
lieving hearts with a view to bringing them into full 
realization of this fellowship with the Father and 
the Son, and thereby into blessed and uninterrupted 
fellowship with each other. 

Where the “fellowship of the Spirit” is realized, 
sectarian bigotry and prejudice will no more appear. 
We may not be able to see or believe alike concern- 
ing many things of minor importance; and conse- 
quently we may be connected with various church or- 
ganizations, and may labor in different divisions of 
the army of the Lord; but we shall not allow any 
minor differences of this character to divide us in 
spirit and fellowship from any of God’s dear people. 
We shall recognize all Christians as subjects of the 
same King, Jesus Christ; and all as enlisted in the 
same cause, struggling to the same end, and sus- 
tained by the same hope. Together they compose 
“the household of God,” the ruling and unifying prin- 


296 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 

ciple of which is love. Hearts that are “knit to- 
gether” by this hallowed principle permit no denom- 
inational barriers to interfere with the flow of their 
mutual fellowship. Their language is, 

“Let names, and sects, and parties, fall, 

And Jesus Christ be all in all.” 

But what shall we say as to the demand being made 
in many quarters for undenominational Christian- 
ity as the ideal unity to be sought for the Church? 
Were all religious denominations to be merged in one, 
would it be any better for the cause of God and 
humanity than it is with the Church divided into de- 
nominations as at present? Were such an ecclesias- 
tical merger to be formed, with men having, as at 
present, different views on all religious and ec- 
clesiastical subjects, how long would it be before 
divisions such as occurred between the Eastern and 
Western Churches in earlier times, and their suc- 
cessors at later dates, would be witnessed once more ? 
Lamentable indeed are many of the divisions and 
separations which have occurred in the past, because 
of the lasting alienation and bitterness they have 
engendered. But who shall say that even these 
things, sad as they have been, have not been over- 
ruled for good? Who, in face of present conditions 
in the Roman Catholic Church and -wherever it holds 
sway over any considerable portion of mankind, will 
express regret at the break which Luther and other 
Protestant reformers made with the Pope and his 
legions in the sixteenth century? Who that knows 
the prevailing conditions in the Anglican Church of 
Wesley’s time can doubt that the Wesleyan reforma- 


THE UNIFIER OF THE CHURCH 


297 


tion, and the Methodism which grew out of it, were 
of God, especially in view of the evangelistic influ- 
ences it set in motion and their present visible re- 
sults? The rise of most religious denominations has 
been justified and shown to be providential on a sim- 
ilar principle. 

It is frequently urged as against efforts to promote 
advanced spirituality, and especially against the ef- 
fort to promote the definite w r ork of holiness, or en- 
tire sanctification, that it is productive of schism. 
But the fact is, that no sane effort of this kind has 
ever produced schism. Divisions have sometimes fol- 
lowed upon such efforts, but not because of any 
natural tendency in advanced spirituality to occasion 
such divisions, but either because fanatical zealots 
have been allowed to direct in such movements, or, 
because the unspiritual masses here and there have 
opposed such spiritual movements until they them- 
selves have forced the separation and incurred the 
guilt of introducing schism into the Church of God. 
Usually the latter has been the case. Divisions in the 
Church are never directly caused by holiness, which 
is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love 
and unity in human hearts ; but they have been fre- 
quently due to the lack of holiness — to the opposition 
of carnality to spirituality. Ever and anon Cain 
persecutes Abel ; Ishmael persecutes Isaac ; he that is 
born of the flesh persecutes him that is born of the 
Spirit ; and herein is the most fruitful source of all 
heresies, divisions and schisms in the Church. 

I do not see any sufficient reason [says Dr. Dougan Clark] 
to accept the views of those who suppose that the Church 
of Christ on earth must, during the present dispensation, 


298 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 


become undenominational; i. e., that all sects of Christians 
must be merged into one outward and visible Church. God’s 
chosen people of old were twelve tribes, but one Israel. In 
like manner His people now are denominations, but one 
Church. I do not know why it should not continue to be so, 
until the Son of man cometh in His kingdom. 

And when the Israelites marched, or when they en- 
camped, it was not in disorder, nor at random. Every tribe 
had its own place assigned in the march, in the battle, and 
in the encampment ; and every man was to march, to fight, 
and to pitch his tent under his own standard, and with his 
own tribe. There was beauty, there was order, there was 
strength. But the secret of it all was that God dwelt in the 
tabernacle, and the tabernacle was in their very midst. 

And when the prophet, covetous of Balak’s gold, would 
fain have cursed this God of Israel ; when he even changed 
his position again and again that he might see them from 
a different standpoint, if peradventure he might curse them 
from thence ; on every occasion the curse was changed into 
a blessing in his mouth, and he was compelled to exclaim, 
“How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O 
Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by 
the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord 
hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters;” nay, 
even to petition for himself, “Let me die the death of the 
righteous, and let my last end be like his.” 

Beautiful in their encampment, terrible in their march, 
irresistible in their attack upon their enemies — such were 
the Israelites of old when the Lord dwelt among them. 

And such would the Church of Christ be now, if thor- 
oughly baptized, and filled, and abode in by the Holy Spirit. 
She would indeed be “beautiful for situation, the joy of the 
whole earth, fair to look upon.” And she would be to the 
enemies of God and His truth “terrible as an army with 
banners.” And the attempts which might be made from 
many different standpoints to curse her would all be vain, 
so that even her enemies would be compelled to acknowl- 
edge with Baalam, “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and 
thy tabernacles, O Israel.” “Let me die the death of the 
righteous , and let my last end he like his.” 


THE CHURCHES IMPERATIVE NEED 


299 


And is not the good time coming and nigh at hand? Is 
not the Holy Spirit indeed taking possession of the Church 
to a larger extent than ever before, since apostolic times? 
The dividing lines between different sects of Christians have 
hitherto been too much like high walls of separation, across 
which they could only shoot arrows at each other. Now 
they are becoming, as I trust, more like low hedges, across 
which they can shake hands and wish each other Godspeed 
on their heavenward journey. 

Moreover, instead of spending their time and their talent, 
their brain-power and their learning, in controversies and 
persecutions, instead of waging angry and interminable 
wars with each other, they are beginning to see that it is no 
longer the province of Ephraim to vex Judah, nor of Judah 
to judge Ephraim, but Judah and Ephraim are to unite with 
each other, and with the other tribes, in smiting the common 
enemies of God and Israel; and, shoulder to shoulder with 
one common front, they are to wage war with Amalek, the 
Canaanite, or the Philistine, as the case may be.* 

THE church's IMPERATIVE NEED 

The great and indispensable need of the Church 
at the present day is a renewal of Pentecost; or, to 
put it better still, the great and indispensable need 
is such a baptism with the Holy Spirit as shall be 
answerable to the Scripture promise of “the latter 
rain in its season." The primitive Pentecost was 
only the “early rain" which causes the seed to 
germinate. The “latter rain" is that which matures 
the harvest. The Scriptures warrant the belief that 
there is an outpouring of the Spirit to come such as 
will have all the essential elements of that which 
occurred at the primitive Pentecost, but on a vastly 
enlarged scale , and with even much more glorious 
results. 

♦“Offices of the Holy Spirit,” pp. 222-224. 


300 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH 


The mystical river which Ezekiel saw began with 
mere droppings from underneath the sanctuary ; but, 
in its onward flow, it acquired increased volume and 
momentum, without any tributary, until at last it 
became a great river, waters to swim in, a river that 
could not be passed over. And everything lived 
wheresoever the waters of this river came, except the 
marshy or stagnant places; and even the waters of 
the Dead Sea were sweetened and healed. (Ezek. 47 : 
1-12.) Is not this typical of the law of the Spirit? 
Is it not a law of increasing manifestation and 
power? May not the Church of this latter day look 
for and realize such communications of the Holy 
Spirit as shall far exceed those of the primitive 
Pentecost ? 

“O Lord, increase our faith.” Enlarge the vision 
of Thy Church as to her privilege, opportunity and 
responsibility. Help her to arise, put on her beauti- 
ful garments, gird herself for the crisis that is before 
her, and go forth to the final and full accomplishment 
of her mission, “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, 
and terrible as an army with banners.” 


XXIV 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

There is no more exalted, honorable and respon- 
sible calling among men than that of the Christian 
minister. He is an ambassador from the King of 
heaven to the sons of men. (2 Cor. 5:20.) He is a 
watchman unto God’s people. (Ezek. 3 : 17.) He is a 
husbandman, in charge of his Lord’s estate. (2 Tim. 
2:6.) He is a steward of the mysteries of God, and 
of the manifold grace of God. He is a shepherd of 
the flock of God which He hath purchased with His 
own blood. (1 Pet. 5: 1-4.) 

Any one of the foregoing characterizations is suffi- 
cient to impress one with the dignity and responsi- 
bility of the Christian minister’s vocation. Taken to- 
gether they set forth the honor and responsibility of 
his calling with augmented clearness and force. He 
who ponders the responsibilities of this calling may 
well exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things?” 

The only rational answer to this question is that 
given by the apostle, in answer to his own question : 
“Our sufficiency is of God.” No man is called to 
enter this warfare at his own charges. Our Lord 
has provided that His ministers should be “thorough- 
ly furnished unto every good work.” He provides 
them with a complete panoply, and then says to them, 
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, 


301 


302 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and 
having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). He has 
provided an enduement of power from on high, with- 
out which the most laborious efforts must spell fail- 
ure, but with which success is assured, despite the 
opposition of earth and hell. To His primitive min- 
isters He said, after having called them, “Behold, I 
send the promise of My Father upon you : but tarry 
ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Also, “Ye shall 
receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you : and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jeru- 
salem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the 
uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:3). 

AN INDISPENSABLE CONDITION OF SUCCESS 

One can not read such passages as the foregoing 
without the conviction that success in the work of 
the Christian ministry is conditioned upon such a re- 
lation to the Holy Spirit as brings Him and His 
power into constant requisition in connection with 
such ministry. The apostolic idea of an able minister 
of Jesus Christ is expressed in these words: “Who 
hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, 
not of the letter, but of the Spirit : for the letter kill- 
eth, but the Spirit giveth life.” The ministry that 
accomplishes the end for which the Christian min- 
istry was ordained must ever be one that ministers 
or communicates the Spirit of God unto them that 
attend upon it. No amount of learning or culture 
can make one successful without the Holy Spirit. 
Learning is not necessarily inimical to the presence 


THE HOLY SPIRIT’S CALL 


303 


and power of the Spirit, yet one may so depend on 
these things as to crowd out his sense of dependence 
on the Spirit, and in such a case he will be as power- 
less as was Samson when shorn of his locks. There 
may be such an over regard for precision, and such 
a scrupulous regard for a rigidly set order of wor- 
ship, as will banish the Spirit from our worship, and 
leave the services cold, dry, unattractive, and in- 
effectual. The Spirit of God will not be restrained 
or confined in His operations by any set order of 
things arranged with a view to pleasing the ears and 
other senses of carnal-minded men. The successful 
minister of Christ must be a Spirit-called, Spirit- 
filled, Spirit-illumined, Spirit-guided, and Spirit-em- 
powered man. Given these qualifications, with or 
without the culture of the schools, the minister of 
God can bid defiance to the oppositions of earth and 
hell, and in spite of either or both can proceed to 
the accomplishment of great things in the interest of 
God’s kingdom. The more of learning the better, and 
the greater the increase of power, provided the learn- 
ing is in no sense substituted for the Holy Spirit. 
But humble dependence on Him is absolutely neces- 
sary to the accomplishment of spiritual results. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT’S CALL 

The call of the Holy Spirit is an indispensable 
qualification for the Christian ministry. The prin- 
ciple is as applicable to the Christian ministry to-day 
as it was in the Old Dispensation to the Levitical 
priesthood, that “No man taketh this honor to him- 
self, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” 


304 the HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

(Heb.’5: 4). Men have no right to take up the work 
of the ministry as they would a trade or a profes- 
sion, for the ministry is neither a trade nor a pro- 
fession, but a calling. He who enters the sacred 
office as a profession perverts the design of Jesus 
Christ, the great Head of the Church. He may per- 
form the duties of the office, but he will do so per- 
functorily, without heart or spirit, and consequently 
will lamentably fail to build up believers in holiness, 
and to lead on the Church of God to glorious achieve- 
ments. 

The Church as a whole, or through its appointed 
representatives, may recognize the call of God in 
various persons to the ministry of the Gospel, and 
may publicly declare such recognition by an act of 
ordination, or by other simple means; but God has 
never delegated the work of choosing men for the 
ministry to any person, or to any class or company of 
persons in the world. He calls His own prophets ; He 
commissions His own ambassadors ; He appoints His 
own watchmen; He designates His own stewards. 
Very frequently, too, those whom He calls and ap- 
points to these responsible positions, are such as the 
wise and prudent men of the world, or of the Church 
even, would have passed by as totally unsuited to the 
demand. “Ye see your calling, brethren, how that 
not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, 
not many noble, are called : but God hath chosen the 
foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and 
God hath chosen the weak things of the world to con- 
found the things which are mighty; and base things 
of the world, and things which are despised, hath God 
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to 


THE HOLY SPIRIT^S CALL 


305 


nought the things that are : that no flesh should glory 
in His presence” (1 Cor. 1: 26-29). 

It was not the rulers in Israel — the rich, the wise, the 
mighty — that the Son of God called to be His apostles, but 
the humble fishermen of Galilee. And the greatest reform- 
ers, the brightest luminaries of the Church, have had a 
humble origin: Luther, the son of a forgeman; Melancthon, 
coming forth from an armorer’s shop ; Calvin, not the son of 
wealthy, though of respectable parents; Whitefield, the son 
of a poor innkeeper; and the Wesleys, the sons of a poor 
minister of the Church of England. Thus it has always 
been ; so it is now. But the humbleness of their origin, the 
unpropitiousness of their circumstances, the deficiencies, In 
some instances, in mental culture, and the rudeness of speech 
of some, have been more than compensated for by this 
mighty enduement — the baptism with the Holy Spirit. 
Called of God and with this spiritual equipment they have 
gone forth to shake the nations, and to “turn the world up- 
side down.” 

Again we insist upon it, the call must come from 
God. It must also come from within, by the “still 
small voice” which spoke to Elijah in the olden time, 
even the voice of the Spirit of God. No man should 
be admitted into the ranks of the ministry but he 
who is conscious of an inward, Divine call, and whose 
professed call is corroborated by “gifts, grace, and 
fruit.” It is not sufficient that one is an ardent 
Christian; that he is a devout and spiritual man; 
that he is well informed in the Scriptures and con- 
cerning Divine things ; or that he is capable of doing 
much good. These things indeed are all essential 
qualifications for a Christian minister, but they are 
also equally needed in the Christian layman ; and it 
is not every one who possesses these characteristics 
that God calls to the specific work of the Christian 


30 6 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

ministry. All are to be witnesses for Christ, and 
in the New Testament sense all Christians are 
“prophets” or preachers ; but only they who have the 
inward, Divine call, corroborated by “gifts, grace, 
and fruit,” should be allowed to devote themselves ex- 
clusively to this work. “No man taketh this honor 
to himself, but he that is called of God, as was 
Aaron.” The Holy Spirit must write the call indel- 
ibly upon the heart. 

The man or woman who is called to the work of 
the Christian ministry should in every case “be filled 
with the Spirit ” He should be sanctified. No one 
is fully equipped spiritually for this work until he 
or she has received the baptism with the Holy Ghost. 
The Christian minister should be in the full sense of 
the word a holy man, indwelt and filled by the Holy 
Spirit. He should be baptized with the Holy Ghost, 
in addition to having been radically converted. 
Otherwise carnal or fleshly traits will manifest them- 
selves to an extent that will grieve the Holy Spirit of 
God, and seriously interfere with his usefulness. 
There is equally as great need for the ministers of 
Christ to-day to tarry in the expectancy of faith 
until they are endued with power from on high be- 
fore entering upon their mission, as there was for 
His primitive ministers to do so. Had not our Lord’s 
first ministers obeyed His injunction to tarry for the 
promised baptism, the enduement of power from on 
high, the Acts of the Apostles would never have been 
written, as there would have been little but repeated 
failures to record. And are there not many to-day 
whose ministry is a constant record of failure, simply 
because they are destitute of the unction and power 


THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ILLUMINATION 307 

which the baptism with the Holy Ghost alone can 
impart? Are there not others who once lived under 
the full pressure of the holy baptism, but who have 
long since lost it, even as Samson lost his great 
strength, and who like him wist not that they have 
sustained this great loss? For years they have been 
toiling as diligently as ever, growing old under, the 
burden and the worry of the w T ork, and have seen 
practically nothing accomplished, but have constant- 
ly become more and more inefficient and unaccept- 
able. Did they realize the situation, and would they 
humble themselves once more and seek anew the bap- 
tism they have lost, it would freshen, quicken, and 
inspire them, and give them ten to fifteen years of 
efficient and acceptable service yet. How great would 
be the gain to the Church of God if this could be 
brought to pass ! 

THE HOLY spirit’s ILLUMINATION 

The Holy Spirit is the indispensable Agent in the 
spiritual illumination of ministers of the Gospel. It 
matters not how brilliant a man may be, how learned, 
how orthodox in the faith, or how expert as a de- 
fender of the same, without the Holy Spirit to 
quicken and illumine his spiritual understanding the 
whole realm of spiritual things will be dark to him. 
“The natural man [< pv X u<6<i, “of the senses”] receiv- 
eth not the things of the Spirit of God : for they are 
foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, be- 
cause they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2: 14). 
A spiritual faculty is necessary in order to discern 
spiritual things. The spiritual faculty in the natural 


308 the holy spirit and Christian ministry 

man is dormant, dead, even, until quickened by the 
Spirit of God. And spiritual vision, even in those 
who have received the preliminary quickening of the 
Spirit, but who are not altogether spiritual, who 
to a greater or less extent “walk after the flesh” and 
are therefore “carnal,” even “babes in Christ,” is not 
that full, clear, and discriminating vision which is 
needful to the work of the Christian ministry. Car- 
nality blurs spiritual vision, and confuses spiritual 
understanding. “The natural man may be learned, 
gentle, eloquent, fascinating, but the spiritual con- 
tent of Scripture is absolutely hidden from him ; and 
the fleshly, or carnal, Christian is able to comprehend 
only its simpliest truths, ‘milk’ ” (1 Cor. 3:2).* 
Nothing short of the full baptism with the Holy 
Spirit can spiritually equip and qualify a person for 
preaching the Gospel of the Son of God effectively, 
or for skilfully performing the manifold other duties 
of the ministerial office. Hence the primitive dis- 
ciples were bidden to tarry in the city of Jerusalem 
until they should receive the promised baptism. They 
tarried. The baptism fell upon them; and they 
learned more regarding the Divinity of Jesus Christ 
and the spirituality of His mission in a single hour 
under that celestial baptism than they had learned 
during all their lives before, including their three 
and a half years under the tuition of Jesus Himself. 
The Master said it should be so. “But the Comforter, 
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send 
in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring 
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have 
said unto you” (John 14:26). “He will guide you 

♦Scofield Reference Bible, Note on 1 Cor. 2 : 14. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT'S ILLUMINATION 309 

into all truth;" “He shall receive of Mine, and shall 
show it unto you." “At that day ye shall know that 
I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you" 
(John 16: 13, 14; 14:20). Would that all who are 
attempting to preach Christ’s Gospel were living 
under the full spiritual illumination and revelation 
here promised ! The ministry would then be a living 
ministry indeed, and instead of so many wretched 
failures on every hand as we now behold, we should 
see the whole land aflame with revival fires, the Lord 
adding to the Church daily such as should be saved. 
In far too many cases the ministry of to-day fur- 
nishes examples of blind men leading blind men, both 
of whom are falling into the ditch. It ought not to 
be so. It would not be so, if those who profess to be 
called to the Christian ministry would tarry until 
baptized with the Holy Ghost before entering upon 
their sacred work. 

To liav T e spiritual discernment we must have the Spirit 
Without it we shall be like one who shoots at random. With 
it we can go into a strange congregation and present the 
truths they need to hear. We shall not want any one to tell 
us the spiritual condition of the people. We shall preach 
from inspiration, not from information. “But if all prophesy, 
and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, 
he is convinced of all, he is judged of all ; and thus are the 
secrets of his heart made manifest ; and so falling down on 
his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you 
of a truth” (1 Cor. 14 : 24, 25). Under such preaching, some 
of the hearers get the impression that the preacher knows 
all about them. The blows are not merely heavy, but well 
directed. “So fight I, not as one that beateth the air” (1 
Cor. 9:26). But it can not be denied that many, in the pul- 
pit, “beat the air.” They aim at nothing. They repeat what 
they have heard from others, or have read in books. They 
21 


310 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

may be eloquent, or even Instructive; but they only lull 
their hearers to sleep, and cheer them on in their way to 
hell.* 

Without the Holy Spirit ministers will lack il- 
lumination in matters spiritual; will be deficient in 
spiritual discernment ; will be wanting in that clear 
discrimination and keen penetration which are so es- 
sential to the successful prosecution of their calling ; 
and hence their ministry must be largely that of the 
blind trying to lead the blind, involving the peril of 
both falling into the ditch. “But if any of you lack 
wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men 
liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given 
him” (James 1:5). The Spirit of God is a Spirit of 
wisdom, specially qualifying for the ministry of the 
Gospel. “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon 
Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the 
Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge 
and of the fear of the Lord ; and shall make Him of 
quick understanding in the fear of the Lord : and He 
shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, nor re- 
prove after the hearing of His ears; but with right- 
eousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with 
equity for the meek of the earth,” etc. (Isa. 11: 2-4). 
This was a prophecy concerning the earthly ministry 
of Jesus Christ, fulfilled in Him as in no other; but 
the same holy Chrism which came upon Him to 
qualify Him for His ministry among men, is promised 
to all His servants, and, notwithstanding their 
greater limitations, it will in a goodly degree be to 
them a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit 
of knowledge and might, a discriminating, guiding, 

•Roberts’ “Fishers of Men,” pp. 57, 58. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT'S EMPOWERMENT 


311 

quickening Spirit, enabling them to deal with all 
spiritual problems as they could not were He not 
with them. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT'S EMPOWERMENT 

The personal reception of the Holy Spirit, as in His 
Pentecostal effusion, is the minister’s source of em- 
powerment for the duties of his calling. We saw 
from the quotation in the last paragraph that the 
Spirit of God is a “Spirit of might.” This was il- 
lustrated in concrete form in the ministry of Christ. 
He lived His immaculately sinless life, and wrought 
His wondrous miracles all “in the power of the 
Spirit.” He received the Holy Spirit, at His baptism, 
in all the plenitude of His grace and power, and re- 
ceived Him as an abiding Presence, that He might 
communicate the same to His servants in measure 
suited to their capacities and needs. 

This, then, is the minister’s source of power for the 
accomplishment of his ministry — “Ye shall receive 
the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you,” as 
the more literal translation of the foregoing passage 
reads. With this enduement of “power from on 
high” received and retained by one whom God has 
called to the work of the ministry, he is bound to suc- 
ceed, however hard the conditions around him, and 
however great his limitations respecting talent, 
scholarship, prestige, or other advantages of a nat- 
ural character. Without this the best endeavors of 
the most talented, learned, eloquent, and zealous 
preacher must result in signal failure, so far as gen- 
uine spiritual results are concerned. A Spiritless 


312 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

ministry must ever be a powerless ministry, and con- 
sequently an inefficient ministry. But the feeblest 
pulpit effort which ministers the Holy Spirit unto 
them that attend upon it will invariably be attended 
with success in the conversion of sinners, or in the 
edification of God’s people, or both. An effectual 
ministry always ministers the Holy Spirit to them 
that hear. 

The late Charles H. Spurgeon emphasized the need 
of the Holy Spirit as a source of power to make God’s 
Word effectual for the salvation of men: 

The Holy Spirit is able to make the Word as successful 
now as in the days of the apostles. He can bring in by hun- 
dreds and thousands as well as by ones and twos. The rea- 
son why we are not more prosperous is, that we have not the 
Holy Spirit with us in might and in power, as in earlier 
times. If we had the Spirit sealing our ministry with power, 
it would signify very little about our talent. Men might 
be poor and uneducated ; their words might be broken and 
ungrammatical; there might not be any of the polished 
periods of Hall, or the glorious thunders of Chalmers; but 
if the might of the Spirit attended them, the humblest evan- 
gelist would be more successful than the most learned of 
divines or the most eloquent of preachers. It is extraordi- 
nary grace, not extraordinary talent that wins the day. It is 
extraordinary spiritual power, not extraordinary mental 
power that we need. Mental power fills a chapel, but spiri- 
tual power fills a Church. Mental power may gather a con- 
gregation; spiritual power will save souls. We want spir- 
itual power. Oh! we know some before whom we shrink 
into nothing as to talent, but who have no spiritual power, 
and when they speak they have not the Holy Spirit with 
them; but we know others — simple-hearted, worthy men — 
who speak their country dialect, and who stand up to preach 
in their country place, and the Spirit of God clothes every 
word with power. Hearts are broken, souls are saved, and 
sinners are born again. Oh, Spirit of the living God! we 
want Thee. Thou art the life, the soul, the source of Thy 


THE HOLY SPIRIT'S EMPOWERMENT 


313 

people’s success. Without Thee they can do nothing; but 
with Thee they can do all things.* 

Men of very ordinary ability, when filled with the 
Spirit, are frequently used of God to accomplish 
great things. The Rev. James Caughey was an ordi- 
nary Methodist preacher, filling common appoint- 
ments with only common success and acceptability. 
He received a call from God, distinct and clear, to 
give himself to foreign evangelistic work. He decided 
to comply with the call, and sought and obtained the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit, after which he went as a 
flaming fire throughout England and Ireland, 
preaching the Gospel of a free and full salvation, 
God attending his labors with the power and demon- 
stration of the Spirit, and giving him to see tens of 
thousands savingly turned to the Lord, and thou- 
sands entirely sanctified. 

The late Dwight L. Moody was accustomed to 
ascribe all the success that attended his labors as an 
evangelist to a baptism with the Holy Spirit which 
he received distinct from his conversion. Light was 
given him concerning this subject by two plainly 
dressed Christian women in Chicago. He was 
preaching to a full house night after night, but with- 
out visible success. After the meeting closed one 
night these two women came forward and shook 
hands with the preacher, saying, “God bless you, 
Brother Moody, we are praying for you.” This was 
repeated several nights. Finally the preacher curtly 
said, “What are you praying for me for ? Why don’t 
you pray for these sinners? I want to get sinners 
converted.” One of the women replied, “Oh, Brother 


•Tract. 


314 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

Moody, the Lord has a baptism of the Spirit for you, 
and when you get that baptism you’ll get the sin- 
ners.” This message lingered with him, set him to 
studying the Bible in regard to the baptism with the 
Spirit, until his conviction that there was such a 
baptism for him finally drove him to his knees in a 
determination that he would not rise until he had 
experienced it. He has told us of how he struggled 
in his room in a New York hotel until, at a late hour 
of the night, the baptism came ; and he dates the be- 
ginning of his success as an evangelist to that ex- 
perience. 

President Finney says: 

I would repeat, with great emphasis, that the difference 
in the efficiency of ministers does not consist so much in 
difference of intellectual attainments as in the measure of 
the Holy Spirit they enjoy. And how abundantly do the facts 
that lie right upon the face of the Church’s history demon- 
strate the truth of the assertion. Whatever the age or the 
learning of a minister may be, he is a child in spiritual 
knowledge, experience and qualifications for his office, with- 
out the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Until he knows what 
it is to “be filled with the Spirit,” to be endued with power 
from on high, he is by no means qualified to be a leader in 
the Church of God. A thousand times as much stress ought 
to be laid upon this part of a thorough preparation for the 
ministry as has been. Until it is felt, acknowledged, pro- 
claimed upon the housetops, rung through our halls of 
science, and sounded forth in our theological seminaries that 
this is altogether an indispensable part of preparation for 
the work of the ministry, we talk in vain and at random, 
when we talk of the necessity of a thorough preparation and 
course of training. 

Dr. Horace Bushnell says : 

Many a time nothing is wanted but to speak to a soul 
already hungry and thirsty, or, if not consciously so, 


THE HOLY SPIRIT'S EMPOWERMENT 31 5 

ready to hunger and thirst as soon as the bread and 
water of life are presented. If the problem is to get 
souls under sin inspired again, which it certainly is, 
then it is required that the preacher shall drop lec- 
turing on religion and preach it, testify it, prophesy it, 
speak to faith as being in faith, bring inspiration as being 
inspired, and so become the vehicle, in his own person, of 
the power he will communicate ; and that he may truly beget 
in the Gospel such as will be saved by it. No man is a 
preacher because he has something like or about a Gospel 
in his head. He really preaches when his person is the living 
embodiment, the inspired organ of the Gospel ; in that man- 
ner [there is] no mere human power, but the demonstration 
of a Christly and Divine power; such preaching as had, in 
former times, effects so remarkable. At present we are al- 
most all under the power, more or less, of the age in which 
we live. Infected with naturalism ourselves and having 
hearers that are so, we can hardly find what account to 
make of our barrenness.* 

He who would preach the Gospel effectively, and 
thereby make full proof of his ministry, must be able 
to preach it as did St. Paul, “in demonstration of 
the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2:4). He must be 
able to preach as did the primitive ministers of 
Christ, “with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven” 
(1 Pet. 1:12). But no one can preach the Gospel 
thus unless he is “filled with the Spirit;” unless he 
is endued with “power from on high.” Too great im- 
portance can not be attached to the idea that the min- 
ister of Jesus Christ must have the Holy Spirit as 
an experimental possession. “To one who labors for 
souls, it is as indispensable as moisture is to the 
farmer, or as fire is to the engineer.” Without it we 
shall “spend our wretched strength for nought,” and 
in the end wear out ourselves and those who attend 

•“Nature and the Supernatural,” p. 516. 


316 the holy spirit and Christian ministry 

upon our ministry. We must keep unbroken connec- 
tion with the celestial power-house, or our ministry 
will only end in failure. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT REGULATES ONE’S METHODS 

The minister needs the Holy Spirit to regulate his 
methods in dealing with souls. Many who can preach 
well are largely failures because seriously wanting 
in adaptation at this point. We who are called to 
this responsible position have all classes of people 
to deal with. We can no more deal with all alike 
and be successful than we can raise all varieties of 
fruit or stock alike. We must learn how to adapt 
ourselves to the different circumstances, dispositions, 
temperaments, and idiosyncrasies of those with whom 
we have to deal. The indwelling presence of the Com- 
forter will largely help us in this respect. 

In the work of saving men — whether in public or in 
private — much depends upon the manner. In a critical 
disease the nurse is second only to the physician. The effi- 
cacy of the remedy depends greatly on how it is administered. 
So in our dealing out the truths of God. “Were I to say to 
this people,” said one preacher to another, “the same things 
you do, they would ride me out of town on a rail. Yet they 
take it from you without a word.” One spoke in the tender- 
ness, and with the unction of the Holy Ghost. The other 
seemed to say, by his manner, “I’ll give it to you. You shall 
have the truth, whether you like it or not.” Of course, he 
only stirred up opposition.* 

Some have a cold, professional air about them in 
their ministry, which makes them seem unapproach- 
able to most of the common people. Others manifest 

♦“Fishers of Men,” p. 58. 


THE HOLY SriRIT REGULATES ONE^S METHODS 3 1 ? 

a degree of affectation which savors more of merely 
playing a part, than it does of earnest desire to save 
perishing men and women from an endless hell. 
There is an affectation of sympathy and pathos, like- 
wise of earnestness and zeal, and sometimes of wis- 
dom and learning, the superficiality of which is so 
thin that its deceptive character is quickly detected 
and held in general abomination. The sheep’s pelt 
can not hide the nature of the goat it covers. “Of all 
dead forms, a form of power without the power, is 
the most offensive. There is beauty in the motion of 
living beings; but there is scarcely anything more 
revolting than the motions of a dead body galvanized 
into an appearance of life.” Then others are con- 
strained and awkward in their manner. They are so 
wanting in freedom and naturalness of manner in 
the pulpit, or in society, that they can not suitably 
express their views and feelings. They have power, 
but there is a stiffness and awkwardness connected 
with their utterance which greatly embarrasses and 
hinders them. They fail to break away from self and 
its surroundings and assert that naturalness and 
freedom which are necessary in order that their ut- 
terances may be in the highest degree effective. Some 
are also unduly sensitive. They are easily hurt. 
They too readily take offense. With their sensitive- 
ness they are also apt to become crotchety, and more 
or less crabbed. These are little things, it is granted, 
but are they not like the “dead flies” in the ointment 
of the apothecary, causing it “to send forth a stink- 
ing savor?” Now the experience of baptism with the 
Holy Ghost is needed by every minister of the Gospel 
to guard him against such carnal weaknesses as these, 


318 the holy spirit and Christian ministry 

and to enable him at all times to regulate himself and 
his methods of dealing with men and women with a 
wisdom, a freedom, a sincerity, and a power such as 
becomes the Gospel he is called to preach. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRES BOLDNESS 

Preachers need the Holy Spirit to give them bold- 
ness in declaring the truth. Unpopular truths must 
be preached at times. They must be preached in love, 
but with great boldness. Soon after the day of Pente- 
cost the early preachers were forbidden by the Jew- 
ish authorities to preach any more in the name of 
Jesus. Being let go, they assembled together, re- 
hearsed before the Lord the opposition with which 
they had met, and then prayed, saying: “And now, 
Lord, behold their threatenings : and grant unto Thy 
servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy 
Word, by stretching forth Thine hand to heal ; and 
that signs and wonders may be done by the name of 
Thy holy child Jesus.” Moreover, the inspired record 
adds: “And when they had prayed, the place was 
shaken where they were assembled together ; and they 
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake 
the Word of God with boldness” (Acts 4 : 29-31) . It 
is always so. Whenever men are filled with the Holy 
Ghost they will speak the Word of God wdth boldness. 
And the great need of the Church to-day is for Spirit- 
baptized men in all the pulpits of Christendom who 
shall have the courage of their convictions, and who 
will not shun to declare all the counsel of God, 
whether men will hear or whether they will forbear, 
whether they will flatter or whether they will frown, 


THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRES BOLDNESS 


319 


whether they will receive the message as from God, 
or whether they will regard it as the raving of a 
maniac who ought to be confined in a prison or 
asylum. Moreover, every preacher who resolves to 
be true to his convictions in this regard will sooner 
or later be put to the test. The Spirit of God alone 
will enable him to pass these tests without spiritual 
harm. Sometimes, too, for special emergencies we 
shall need, as did the Lord’s disciples just referred 
to, to be repeatedly filled with the Holy Spirit. New 
emergencies require new supplies of Divine grace; 
and those who do not recognize this fact will be al- 
most sure to fail. 

The Spirit of God will always specially endorse 
and give efficacy to those phases of truth which it is 
His particular mission to emphasize and enforce. He 
is sent forth to “convict the world in respect of sin, 
of righteousness, and of judgment.” Accordingly the 
minister who wisely preaches the truth concerning 
these three things, may very properly expect the 
Holy Spirit to give energy and effectiveness to the 
Word preached. Sin, righteousness, and judgment 
are themes which the Church must make prominent 
in all her efforts to evangelize the world to the end 
of the age. There will never come a time until the 
millennium dawns in which the Christian minister 
will be excusable for neglecting any one of the three. 
He who neglects these themes in favor of those that 
are more popular, is a traitor to his Lord, and must 
expect only failure and ultimate doom in conse- 
quence. Such a minister dishonors the Holy Spirit 
by robbing Him of His sword ; and is a murderer of 
the souls of men by concealing from them the only 


320 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

remedy that can recover them from their moral 
leprosy and save them from “the second death.” 
Better were it for such men had they never been 
born. 

Do not tone down God’s awakening truth [says Dr. 
Daniel Steele]. Do not dilute it. Do not destroy its pun- 
gency by your modifications. Do not obscure it by your 
philosophy. As Ann Phillips said to her husband, “Don’t 
shilly-shally, Wendell.” Says Channing, “No man is fit to 
preach the truth who is not ready to be a martyr to the 
truth.” Says the same great preacher of Christian Ethics : 
“One great reason for the inefficacy of the ministry is the 
want of faith in a higher operation of Christianity in the 
higher development of humanity than is now possessed. As 
long as the present condition of the Christian world shall be 
regarded as ultimate ; as long as our religion shall be thought 
to have done already its chief work on earth ; as long as the 
present corruptions of Church and State shall be acquiesced 
in as laws of nature, and shall stir up no deep agonizing de- 
sire of reform ; so long the ministry will be comparatively 
dead.” It is the power of the Gospel to transfigure human so- 
ciety by transforming human hearts and thus make a new 
heaven and a new earth, that should inspire the preacher 
with courage and persistent application of regenerative 
truth as the Holy Spirit’s instrument of this new creation. 
The world has scarcely begun to feel the power of Christ, to 
save the lost, when regenerative truth shall be pungently and 
generally preached in reliance on the personal Holy Ghost. 
Do you ask, “What are regenerative truths?” We answer: 
The idea of a holy God, of sin, of the law, of the Atonement, 
of the day of judgment, of immortality, of heaven and hell 
determined by the human will. Set the whole firmament 
ablaze with the glow and heat of these eternal verities, and 
your preaching can not be fruitless.* 

♦“The Gospel of the Comforter,” pp. 253, 254. 


XXV 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 

“Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity cap- 
tive; Thou hast received gifts for men” (Psa. 68: 18). 

Thus sang the royal Psalmist, in language which 
St. Paul interprets as prophetic of our Lord’s ascen- 
sion into glory, and of the “gifts of the Holy Ghost,” 
which were to be communicated unto men as a con- 
sequence of His return to the right hand of God. See 
Eph. 4:8. 

It was customary for ancient conquerors, in their 
triumphal marches, to occupy a lofty car, or chariot, 
to the rear of which the kings and generals captured 
in the battle, were chained, and from which they scat- 
tered gifts and presents among the spectators who 
thronged the way, that all might be partakers in the 
joyfulness of the occasion, and in celebrating the 
victory won. Even so Jesus Christ, having won the 
eternal conquest of sin, death, and hell, and having 
“spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show 
of them openly, triumphing over them,” ascended “far 
above all principality, and power, and might, and do- 
minion, and every name that is named, not only in 
this world, but also in that which is to come and, 
as the wheels of His triumphal chariot swept through 
the celestial gates, and bore Him up to the Father’s 
throne, He sent down the Holy Ghost as the Dis- 


321 


322 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


penser of Divine grace, and the Distributor of those 
spiritual “gifts” which would be needful to His 
Church in the accomplishment of its earthly mission. 

THE AUTHOR'S PURPOSE 

It is the purpose of this and the following chapter 
to discuss the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the dis- 
tribution of those spiritual “gifts” to believers, which 
are designed for “the edifying of the body of Christ.” 
The apostolic doctrine concerning this subject is 
clearly set forth by St. Paul in First Corinthians 
12 : 4-13, to which particular attention will now be 
directed : 

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; 
and there are differences of administrations, but the same 
Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the 
same God that worketh all in all. But the manifestation of 
the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to 
one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to another the 
word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by 
the same Spirit ; to another the gifts of healing by the same 
Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another 
prophecy ; to another discerning of spirits ; to another divers 
kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. 
But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, 
dividing to every man severally as He will. For as the body 
is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that 
one body, being many, are one body ; so also is Christ. For 
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether 
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and 
have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 

GRACE AND GIFTS 

The first thing to be especially noted here, is the 
fact that while grace and gifts proceed alike from the 


GRACE AND GIFTS 


323 


same Divine Author, “they spring from attributes en- 
tirely dissimilar , and depend upon conditions essen- 
tially different.” Grace is the offspring of Divine 
benevolence ; gifts, whether natural or spiritual, pro- 
ceed from the Divine Sovereignty. To quote the 
words of another who has written ably on this sub- 
ject: “Grace is dispensed; gifts are distributed. 
That is, grace is bestowed without respect of per- 
sons, equally to all; upon conditions the same to 
each, and possibly alike to every one. ‘God is no 
respecter of persons ; but in every nation he that fear- 
eth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with 
Him.’ ‘The grace of God which bringeth salvation, 
hath appeared unto all men.’ ‘The righteousness of 
God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, is mani- 
fested unto all and upon all them that believe; and 
there is no difference.’ Gifts are conferred, not 
equally, , nor upon certain specified conditions, but 
according to the will of God, corresponding with the 
Divine purpose concerning each individual. 

“With regard to spiritual gifts it is written : ‘All 
these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, divid- 
ing to every man severally as He will.’ Repentance 
toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are 
the conditions upon which every one may obtain 
saving grace; but God reserves to Himself the pre- 
rogative of assigning to each his place in the body of 
Christ. A man can not, because he is in a state of 
grace, take upon him the work of the ministry. ‘No 
man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is 
called of God, as was Aaron.’ No more can he be- 
come a worker of miracles, or have the gift of healing, 
by his own choice; for, ‘Now hath God set the mem- 


3 2 4 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


bers every one of them in the body as it hath pleased 
Him.’ ‘To one is given by the Spirit theword of wis- 
dom, to another the word of knowledge by the same 
Spirit ; to another faith ; to another gifts of healing ; 
to another the working of miracles.’ ” 

Thus God, as an independent Sovereign, acts ac- 
cording to His own determinate counsel, in the be- 
stowment of spiritual gifts upon the various members 
of Christ’s mystical body, “dividing to every man 
severally as He will,” and assigning to each member 
a place in the body according “as it hath pleased 
Him.” Gifts, therefore, are not necessarily evidences 
of superior grace ; nor is the absence of gifts a proof 
that any individual is without saving grace. For 
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of 
angels, and have not charity, I am become as sound- 
ing brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have 
the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, 
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so 
that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, 
I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13: 1, 2). 

GIFTS VARIOUSLY BESTOWED 

It should be observed in the second place, that 
while God acts sovereignly in the distribution of spir- 
itual gifts, He also designs that, in some measure, 
every member of the body of Christ should be en- 
dued with them . It is concerning the ministry of 
the Holy Ghost in the impartation of these gifts, that 
St. Paul affirms, “The manifestation of the Spirit is 
given to every man to profit withal.” And “the self- 
same Spirit distributes to every man severally as He 


GIFTS VARIOUSLY BESTOWED 


325 


will.” It is not as we will, but as the Holy Spirit 
wills, that these Divine gifts are imparted. Still they 
are not reserved for any particular class of individ- 
uals, since all who have saving faith in Christ are 
equally eligible to their bestowment. They were not 
limited to the apostles of our Lord, but were to at- 
tend those who should believe on Him through their 
word. When Jesus gave them their last great com- 
mission to “preach the Gospel to every creature,” He 
added : “And these signs shall follow them that be- 
lieve; in My name shall they cast out devils; they 
shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take up 
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall 
not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and 
they shall recover” (Mark 16: 17, 18). 

As they were not limited to the apostles, so these 
gifts are not confined to the ministry, or to any par- 
ticular order in the Church; but they are designed, 
according to St. Paul’s own words, for “every man.” 
And it has been truly said, “If the Church were not 
hindered by improper teaching, and by unbelief, as 
each member received his Pentecost, the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost, the Spirit would also assign him his 
place in the body of Christ, by conferring upon him 
those gifts which God intended he should exercise.” 

But while “the manifestation of the Spirit,” in the 
distribution of spiritual gifts, “is given to every man 
to profit withal,” it does not follow that all the gifts 
belonging to the Church are to be conferred upon 
and exercised by any single individual, however holy 
he may be, or however strong his faith in God. Like 
natural gifts, they are to be distributed among the 
members “severally ;” some receiving more and others 
22 


326 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


fewer; some having those of one kind, and others 
those of a different class. “To one is given the word 
of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge; to 
another the gift of prophecy/’ etc. But none are en- 
dued with all these several gifts. Hence the fol- 
lowing reasoning of St. Paul : “Now ye are the body 
of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath 
set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily 
prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then 
gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of 
tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all 
teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the 
gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all 
interpret ?” 

Commenting on this passage, Hr. Bowen says: 
“That is, He has appointed different offices in the 
Church, to be filled by different individuals, or classes, 
respectively, according to His own will ; and has for- 
bidden anyone to intrude himself into the place of 
another, or to be so envious of another’s promotion 
as to insist that ‘he is not of the body,’ refusing to 
have anything to do with it, because ‘he is not,’ and 
is not acknowledged to be ‘the body itself.’ ” 

The Church is “the body of Christ.” How then 
shall it vindicate its oneness with the Head, except 
it shall do the works which He did, as well as to re- 
iterate the words which He spake? It was just as 
our Lord was to be received up into heaven that He 
made promise to His Church of the power by which 
that oneness with Himself should be visibly demon- 
strated to the world. As Elijah was caught up from 
the earth, and borne heavenward in a chariot of fire, 
his mantle fell at Elisha’s feet — as his successor. 


GIFTS ENUMERATED AND CONSIDERED 327 

With the descent of Elijah’s mantle to Elisha, came 
also “the double portion of Elijah’s spirit,” for which 
he had prayed. And this was demonstrated by Eli- 
sha, in the working of just double the number of 
miracles Elijah wrought. 

“The ministration of the Spirit,” to the members 
of Christ’s mystical body, is the mantle of a greater 
than Elijah, even the ascended and glorified Christ, 
let fall upon “every man” who belongs to that “body” 
in order that the Church may ever be replenished 
with power to reproduce the marvelous works of Him 
who is its living Head. “The works that I do shall 
ye do also ; and greater works than these shall ye do, 
because I go unto the Father” (John 14 : 12). 

GIFTS ENUMERATED AND CONSIDERED 

“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same 
Spirit.” Nine different kinds of gifts are mentioned 
by the apostle, as follows : 

1. The word [doctrine] of wisdom. 2. The word [doc- 
trine] of knowledge. 3. Faith. 4. Gifts of healing. 5. 
The working of miracles. 6. Prophecy. 7. Discerning of 
spirits. 8. Divers kinds of tongues. 9. The interpretation 
of tongues. 

“All these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, 
dividing to every man severally as He will.” 

“The word of wisdom,” which stands first among 
the gifts of the Spirit, seems to imply a particular 
supernatural enduement or revelation of wisdom in 
spiritual things as a qualification for the preaching 
of the Gospel. Some light may be thrown upon it by 
the following words of St. Paul, as recorded in a 
former part of the same epistle : “Howbeit we speak 


328 THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 

wisdom among them that are perfect ; yet not the wis- 
dom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, 
that come to nought. But we speak the wisdom of 
God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which 
God ordained before the world unto our glory. Which 
none of the princes of this world knew ; for had they 
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of 
glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, 
the things which God hath prepared for them that 
love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us hy 
His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, 
the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2: 6-10). Moreover, 
concerning this “mystery” of redemption, and con- 
cerning these “deep things of God,” and “the things 
prepared for them that love Him,” the apostle ex- 
pressly affirms that mere reason can never appre- 
hend them. “But the natural man receiveth not the 
things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness 
unto him; neither can he know them, because they 
are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual 
discerneth all things, yet he himself is discerned of 
no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, 
that He may instruct him? But we have the mind 
of Christ” (Verses 14-16, K. V.). 

A special gift or enduement of wisdom was prom- 
ised to the disciples, also, in times of persecution, 
when they should be brought before kings and gov- 
ernors, for the Gospel’s sake. “Settle it therefore in 
your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall 
answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, 
which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain- 
say nor resist” (Luke 21 : 14, 15). 


GIFTS ENUMERATED AND CONSIDERED 


329 


This gift of wisdom was bestowed upon Stephen 
by the Holy Ghost, when he was surrounded by the 
Libertines, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, who at last 
procured his martyrdom ; “And they were not able to 
resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake” 
(Acts 6:10). 

There are “treasures of wisdom” in both the writ- 
ten and the Incarnate Word of God, which only that 
Spirit who “searcheth all things, yea, the deep things 
of God,” can communicate to finite minds. And a 
special, supernatural revelation of that “wisdom of 
God in a mystery,” is an essential qualification for 
the Gospel ministry. No natural gifts, no amount 
of scholastic culture, no human acquirements or ac- 
complishments can make up for the lack of that in- 
terior revelation of the “manifold wisdom of God,” 
which it is the prerogative of the Holy Ghost to im- 
part. 

“The word of knowledge” is another of those spir- 
itual gifts enumerated by the apostle. “The word of 
wisdom” appears to have been a gift designed espe- 
cially to qualify those who possessed it for imparting 
judicious counsel concerning all spiritual matters. 

“The word of knowledge” had reference more par- 
ticularly to that clearness of spiritual insight which 
is essential to aptness and correctness in expounding 
the Word of God and the processes of salvation. 
Aquila and Priscilla were endued with this, and 
when they had heard Apollos, who was “an eloquent 
man, and mighty in the Scriptures,” “speak boldly 
in the synagogue,” and “teach diligently the things 
of the Lord,” “they took him unto them, and ex- 
pounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” 


330 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


Then Apollos, endued with a like gift, proceeded 
into Achaia; “who, when he had come, helped them 
much which had believed through grace; for he 
mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, show- 
ing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” 
(Acts 18:24-28). 

It will also be observed that, in the list we are con- 
sidering, “faith” is named as one of the extraordinary 
gifts of the Spirit. It is not the grace of faith, how- 
ever, of which the apostle here speaks. There is a 
faith by which the soul is justified and sanctified, 
and this may be termed a grace, rather than an extra- 
ordinary gift, of the Spirit. And then there is a faith 
which is a special Divine enduement — an extraordi- 
nary power of believing for the accomplishment of 
certain results by special Divine interposition, in the 
face of natural impossibilities. This is the faith that 

“Laughs at impossibilities, 

And cries, ‘It shall be done.’ ” 

We find it illustrated by a long array of examples 
in the Eleventh Chapter of the Epistle to the He- 
brews. It is a miracle-working faith — a faith that 
prevails over the elements and laws of nature by 
bringing Divine power to its aid ; that triumphs over 
the physical infirmities resulting from sin ; that sub- 
dues devils, and casts them out of their places of 
usurped authority; and that annihilates or sur- 
mounts every Red Sea barrier and every mountain- 
like difficulty in its way. 

Fourth in the list, the apostle mentions “gifts 
of healing.” When Christ was on earth, He went 
about, not only teaching men the way of life and sal- 


GIFTS ENUMERATED AND CONSIDERED 


331 


vation, but also “healing all manner of sickness, and 
all manner of disease among the people.” His was 
a twofold ministry, of spiritual and physical healing. 
Jesus Christ is not only “Jehovah-Tsidkenu” (the 
Lord our Righteousness), but He is also “Jehovah- 
Rophi” (the Lord our Healer). To ancient Israel He 
said: “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice 
of the Lord thy God, and will do that which is right 
in His sight, and will give ear to His commandments, 
and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these 
diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the 
Egyptians ; for I am [ Jehovah-Rophi] the Lord that 
healeth thee” (Exod. 15:26). 

On condition of their unreserved obedience and 
diligent attention to lead holy lives, God promised, 
to quote Dr. Adam Clarke’s comment on the fore- 
going passage, “that they should be kept in a state 
of health of body and peace of mind ; and if, at any 
time, they should be afflicted, on application to God, 
the evil should be removed, because He was their 
Healer, or Physician.” 

Nor is there any evidence or authority to prove 
that this promise was limited to the Mosaic age ; but 
from other Scriptures, we are warranted in the belief 
that the principle involved in it is of universal appli- 
cation. 

David, in his day, regarded the Lord as the Healer 
of the body, as well as the Savior of the soul. In 
joyful celebration of His mercy as manifested in both 
of these respects, he sang: “Bless the Lord, O my 
soul, and forget not all His benefits ; who forgiveth 
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases” 
(Psa. 103:2, 3). 


332 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


Isaiah foretold the coming and the twofold min- 
istry of Messiah, saying: “He will come and save 
you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and 
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall 
the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the 
dumb sing/’ etc. (Chap. 35:4-6). 

Accordingly, from the day of His baptism with 
water and with the Holy Ghost, until the day of His 
crucifixion, Christ’s ministry was the twofold min- 
istry of saving and healing. And when He commis- 
sioned His first ministers to their work, He transmit- 
ted to them authority to heal, as well as to preach, in 
His name. See Mark 3 : 15 ; Luke 10 : 8, 9 ; Mark 
16 : 17, 18. Thus a twofold cord of promise runs 
through all those Scriptures, in both the Old and New 
Testaments, which set forth our Lord’s redeeming 
work. The grace of salvation and “the gifts of heal- 
ing” are the joint heritage of “the body of Christ.” 
And we may well add : “What, therefore, God hath 
joined together, let not man put asunder.” 

“The working of miracles” is classed among the 
gifts of the Spirit, and is mentioned as distinct from 
“the gifts of healing.” The word translated “mir- 
acles” is Bwdfxe is, the plural form of a word which 
Green’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament 
defines as “a manifestation or instance of power, 
mighty means, omnipotence,” etc. It is derived from 
the same root as the word dynamite, and seems to 
have reference to that class of mighty operations 
which, under special Divine direction and enduement, 
were manifested by some in the early Church casting 
out devils, in raising the dead to life, and in the per- 


GIFTS ENUMERATED AND CONSIDERED 


333 


formance of works which required a contravention 
of some of the forces and laws of nature. 

“The gift of prophecy” is next in order, and is con- 
sidered by St. Paul as one of “the best gifts hence, 
after exhorting believers to “covet earnestly the best 
gifts,” in the concluding verse of the Twelfth Chapter 
(1 Cor.), he introduces the Fourteenth with the ex- 
hortation: “Follow after charity, and desire spiri- 
tual gifts; but rather that ye may prophesy.” 

Faussett, in his Bible Cyclopedia, says the root 
signification of prophesy, in the Hebrew, is, “to 
bubble forth as a fountain ;” and the Greek word for 
prophet means, “the interpreter,” from * po and 
cf>rj[XL, to “speak forth” truths for another, as Aaron 
was Moses’ prophet, i. e., spokesman. The same 
author also further states, that 

Prediction was a leading function of the prophet, but not 
always attached to the prophet. For instance, the seventy 
elders (Num. 11: 16-29) ; Asaph and Jeduthun, etc., “prophe- 
sied with a harp” (1 Chron. 25:3) ; Miriam and Deborah 
were “prophetesses” (Exod. 15:20; Judges 4:4, also 6:8) ; 
John the Baptist, the greatest of prophets of the Old Testa- 
ment order. 

To prophesy, in the general New Testament sense 
of the term, is to teach or expound the Scriptures, or 
to impart spiritual instruction, under the extraordi- 
nary power and illumination of the Holy Spirit. So 
St. Paul uses the term in the following passage: 
“He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edifica- 
tion, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Cor. 14:3). 

And it is in this more general sense that, under the 
dispensation and baptism of the Holy Ghost, as fore- 


334 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


told by the prophet Joel, the “sons” and “daughters,” 
and the “servants” and “handmaidens” in the Church 
of Christ are to “prophesy.” This is evidently the 
most useful, and hence the most common, of all spir- 
itual gifts. 

Mr. Fletcher says: “On all who are renewed in 
love, God bestows ‘the gift of prophecy.’ ” This may 
be rather too sweeping ; nevertheless, the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost does enable whoever receives it to 
“magnify God with the new heart of love and the new 
tongue of praise.” Those who were “filled with the 
Holy Ghost” at Pentecost, immediately began to “de- 
clare the wonderful works of God.” So useful is “the 
gift of prophecy” for the edification of the Church, 
that it should be desired and sought by all believers. 
“Wherefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to proph- 
esy” (1 Cor. 14:39, R. V.). 

“Discerning of spirits” is also one of the extra- 
ordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost. The design of its 
bestowment appears to have been to enable its pos- 
sessors to distinguish between true and false mir- 
acles ; between false teachers, prophets, and mere pre- 
tenders to Divine inspiration, and such as are truly 
called by, and endued with, the Holy Ghost; and 
between hypocritical professors and such as have un- 
feigned faith in Jesus Christ. We see instances of 
its exercise in Peter, when Ananias and Sapphira 
dissembled before him (Acts 5: 1-11), and when Si- 
mon Magus pretended conversion, in hope that he 
might be endued with these spiritual gifts which 
were imparted by the laying on of the apostles’ 
hands, desiring them for the unhallowed purpose of 


GIFTS ENUMERATED AND CONSIDERED 


335 


traffic and worldly gain (Acts 8 : 9*24) ; in Paul when 
withstood in Paphos by Elymas the sorcerer, who 
sought to turn away Sergius Paulus, the deputy of 
the country, from hearing the truth (Acts 13: 4-12) ; 
and in the angel, or pastor, of the Church at Ephesus, 
of whom the Lord says: “Thou hast tried them 
which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast 
found them liars” (Rev. 2:2). Would that this gift 
were not so rare as it is among believers to-day, that 
the Church might be better guarded against the in- 
trusion of uncalled and graceless men into the ranks 
of her ministry and other places of responsibility ! 
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits 
whether they are of God ; because many false proph- 
ets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). 

Speaking with “divers kinds of tongues,” and “the 
interpretation of tongues” complete the list of super- 
natural gifts enumerated by the apostles. Com- 
mentators have differed widely as to what was im- 
plied in “the gift of tongues.” Perhaps there is no 
better rule to follow, when the “doctors disagree” 
on the interpretation of Scripture, than that of adopt- 
ing the most simple interpretation to be found. Ap- 
plying that rule in the present instance, we shall be 
led to conclude that the “divers kinds of tongues” 
refer to the ability bestowed on certain individuals 
by the immediate operation of the Holy Ghost, to 
speak in languages which they had never learned, for 
the instruction of those who belonged to different 
nationalities. This seems to have been the case on 
the day of Pentecost, especially. Hence the astonished 
multitudes, representing “every nation under 


336 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


heaven,” exclaimed : “Are not all these which speak 
Galileans? and how hear we every man in our own 
tongue wherein we were born?” (Acts 2:7, 8.) 

There were such gross perversions of this gift, at 
a later period, that St. Paul found it necessary to 
administer the reproof recorded in 1 Cor., 14th Chap- 
ter, and to speak almost disparagingly concerning it, 
as a means of edification in the Church. Neverthe- 
less, he evidently exercised this gift himself at Lyca- 
onia (Acts 14:11-15), and after writing to cor- 
rect its perversion in the Corinthian church, he con- 
cludes by saying: “Wherefore, brethren, covet to 
prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.” 

“Either the speaker with a tongue, or a listener,” 
says Faussett, “might have the gift of interpreting, so 
he might bring forth deep truths from the seemingly 
incoherent utterances of foreign and Aramaic, and 
strange words.” 

We have now considered briefly the entire list of 
spiritual gifts as set forth in Paul’s letter to the 
Corinthians. But, by referring to Ephesians 4 : 11, 
it will be seen that the various orders in the ministry 
are also considered by the apostle as gifts or appoint- 
ments conferred by the extraordinary manifestations 
of the Holy Ghost. Having declared that when Christ 
“ascended on high” He “led captivity captive, and 
gave gifts unto men,” he continues: “And He gave 
some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evan- 
gelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the per- 
fecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, 
for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all 
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge 


GIFTS ENUMERATED AND CONSIDERED 


337 


of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the 
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” 

To every one that savingly believes on Christ and 
receives his Pentecost baptism, the Holy Ghost as- 
signs a place in that body of which Christ is the Head. 
The offices the different members are to fill, and the 
gifts they are to exercise are various, as are the 
numerous members of the human body. “God hath 
set the members every one of them in the body as it 
hath pleased Him.” And the Holy Ghost distributes 
the various gifts among the different members “sever- 
ally, as He will.” 

“As the members of the human body,” says Dr. 
Adam Clarke, “so the different members of the mys- 
tical body of Christ. All are intended by Him to 
have the same relation to each other; to be mutually 
subservient to each other ; to mourn and rejoice with 
each other.” He has also made each necessary to the 
beauty, proportion, strength and perfection of the 
whole. Not one is useless; not one unnecessary. 
Paul, Apollos, Kephas, and their fellow-laborers, with 
all their variety of gifts and graces, are designed for 
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the min- 
istry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Eph. 
4 : 12 .) 

Hence no teacher should be exalted above or op- 
posed to another. As the eye can not say to the hand, 
I have no need of thee, so luminous Apollos can not 
say to laborious Paul, I can build up and preserve 
the Church without thee. The foot planted on the 
ground to support the whole fabric, and the hands 
that swing at liberty, and the eye that is continually 


33 § 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


taking in near and distant prospects, are all equally 
serviceable to the whole, and mutually helpful and 
dependent on each other. So also are the different 
ministers and members of the Church of Christ. 


WERE THE GIFTS DESIGNED TO BE PERMANENT 

The traditional answer is a decided No. From one 
generation to another, the statement has been handed 
down, through bygone centuries, that “the age of 
miracles passed away with apostolic times.” Miracu- 
lous gifts have often been compared to. the scaffold- 
ing of a building which is removed when the build- 
ing is completed as to its first stage, because no longer 
necessary. This theory, because of its antiquity 
rather than because of any argument or evidence ac- 
companying it, is, for the most part, unquestioned 
and unchallenged in the present age ; hence the extra- 
ordinary gifts of the Spirit are generally regarded as 
not belonging to the Church of to-day. 

A call was put forth in one of the religious jour- 
nals of this country, some years ago, asking the opin- 
ion of ministers, teachers, and theological professors, 
concerning this matter. The call was responded to 
by a very large number of the various classes to whom 
it was addressed ; and the almost unanimous verdict 
was, that the age of miracles passed away with the 
apostolic times. Several of the replies gave evidence 
that their authors had never investigated the subject 
at all. In a few instances the question at issue was 
evaded, unintentionally, it may be, by asking, “What 
is a miracle?” There were but two or three replies 
which expressed the belief that miracles are possible 


WERE THE GIFTS DESIGNED TO BE PERMANENT 339 

in all ages of the Church, and that they have ap- 
peared to a greater or less extent, from the apostolic 
days down to the present time. 

It will doubtless be regarded as presumptuous and 
fanatical, therefore, by many, for one to set his face 
squarely against the generally-received tradition that 
the age of miracles has passed away, and to contend 
for the supernatural and the miraculous as Divinely- 
ordained accompaniments of spiritual religion in all 
ages, and therefore possible at the present time. 
Nevertheless, at the risk of being regarded as an en- 
thusiast or a fool, the author is constrained to declare 
it as his confession of faith regarding this question, 
that the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost , in 
general , xoere bequeathed to the whole Church , as a 
body, and that, too, as a perpetual inheritance. 

Instead of so much studied effort to adapt Christianity to 
“this present evil age” and to divest it of all that is offensive 
to carnal minds, “the Church in every direction needs to be 
reshaped to the apostolic model and reinvested with her 
apostolic powers. For is it not apparent that between the 
indignant clamor of skeptics against primitive miracles, and 
the stern frowning of theologians upon any alleged modern 
miracles, the Lord’s people are in danger of being frightened 
out of their faith in the supernatural? * * * As a re- 

ligion which is ritual is sure to put vestments on her min- 
isters sooner or later, so a religion which is rational rather 
than spiritual, will be certain to put vestments on the Lord’s 
providences, insisting on their being draped in the habili- 
ments of decent cause and effect, and attired in the surplice 
of natural law and order, lest God should “make bare His 
holy arm in the eyes of all nations.”* 

Such is the growing sway of mere naturalism at the 
present time, that the Church, if there are any residu- 

*Dr. A. J. Gordon, in “The Ministry of Healing,” p. 2 . 


340 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


ary legacies of supernatural power still unclaimed by 
her, should press boldly forward and take immediate 
and full possession of them, that she may be furnished 
with the ability to demonstrate visibly and sensibly 
her own Divine origin, and to convince the sensual 
multitudes of the existence and reality of the super- 
natural and the spiritual. In order to this, however, 
she must be brought to see and realize that the prom- 
ise of her Lord ere he ascended up on high, that after 
His return to the Father His disciples should do the 
works that He had done, and even “greater works 
than these,” was universal and unlimited, and there- 
fore is in full force to-day for all who have faith to 
claim its fulfilment. 

We would offer no apology for the vagaries and the 
fanatical ravings which have characterized some in 
modern times, who, separating the doctrine for which 
we contend from the general system of revealed truth, 
have proclaimed it in an unbalanced and reckless 
manner ; nor would we intentionally do aught to open 
the way for the admission of such extravagance and 
folly in the present discussion of this subject. We are 
not unaware that this doctrine, like other doctrines 
of revealed religion, may be prostituted to the basest 
purposes. 

The Church of Rome, though sunk in lifeless for- 
malism and reeking in corruption, still pretends to 
exercise supernatural gifts, imposing upon the mil- 
lions of her superstitious followers by an array of 
unmitigated frauds in the name of miracles. “Nor has 
there been wanting a John of Leyden, a Jemima Wil- 
kinson, or a Joe Smith, to imitate her foul example/’ 
And besides these, who may be considered as the chil- 


WERE THE GIFTS DESIGNED TO BE PERMANENT 34I 

dren of antichrist and the heads of stupendous impos- 
ture, “whose hypocritical guise is too thin to mislead 
any but the willing victim,” there are others who 
are sincere, pious, and full of zeal, but who are often 
betrayed into extravagances which reproach the 
cause of truth, because they are uninstructed as to 
the nature and design of supernatural gifts, and as 
to the principle and manner of their bestowment. 
But neither the prostitution and abuse of the doc- 
trine by impostors, and the extravagant claims and 
pretensions of novices who, puffed with pride, seek 
to parade their faith before the public gaze, nor the 
fanatical errors and excesses of ignorant souls who 
hold the truth in an unbalanced manner, is any argu- 
ment against the doctrine itself, provided it can be 
proved from the Scriptures. These things may beget 
a prejudice in some minds, which neither reason nor 
Scripture can overcome; but in nowise can they in- 
validate the doctrine itself. 


23 


XXVI 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS— Continued 

That the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost 
were not limited to the introduction of Christianity, 
but were designed as the perpetual inheritance of the 
Church, may be shown from the following considera- 
tions : 


PROMISES CONCERNING THEM UNLIMITED 

The New Testament promises concerning them are 
as unlimited as are the promises of salvation by faith, 
with which they are often connected. Let us con- 
sider, for instance, the passage in Mark 16 : 15-18 : 
“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, 
and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that 
believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall 
follow them that believe: In My name shall they 
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 
they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any 
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay 
hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Nor can 
we, with any show of reason, limit one part of this 
promise to apostolic times and not circumscribe the 
other within the same limits. Violent attempts have 
been made to do this, but in vain. “He that believeth 


342 


PROMISES CONCERNING THEM UNLIMITED 343 

and is baptized shall be saved.” All are agreed that 
this promise holds good throughout the whole Chris- 
tian dispensation. But, in the same breath, our 
Savior added: “And these signs shall follow them 
that believe,” etc. We are compelled to conclude, 
therefore, that the latter promise, on the same ground 
as the former one, belongs to all ages and generations 
of the Church’s history. 

Practical difficulties may confront us in regard 
to the present fulfilment of these words, but that is 
not a sufficient ground on which to fix a limit to the 
promise where the Lord has not limited it. Scripture 
is not to be interpreted in conformity with the low 
standards of an emasculated Christianity, or of a 
Church on whose walls Ichabod has long been writ- 
ten. And if we allow “the traditions of men” or the 
reasonings of those who are weak in the faith, to 
“throw one-half of this glorious promise into eclipse, 
the danger is that the other half may become in- 
volved.” Christians should beware of furnishing 
infidels with an excuse for their skepticism, by fixing 
limits to those Divine promises which their own faith 
is not strong enough to claim, when God has fixed no 
such limitation. 

An incident occurred a few years ago, in which a 
shrewd skeptic made use of the text we are consid- 
ering, against a person who held the common view 
concerning it. 

Urged to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” that he might 
be saved, he answered, “How can I be sure that this part of 
the promise will be kept with me, when, as you admit, the 
other part is not kept with the Church to-day?” “And cer- 
tainly,” says the narrator, “standing on the traditional 


344 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


ground, one must be dumb before such reasoning.” The only- 
safe position is to assert emphatically the perpetuity of the 
promise, and with the same emphasis to admit the general 
weakness and failure of the Church’s faith in appropriating 
it. For who does not see that a confession of human inabil- 
ity is a far safer and more rational refuge for the Christian 
than an implication of the Divine changeableness and limita- 
tion.* 

Let us turn our attention now to a passage re- 
corded in John 14 : 12-14 : “Verily, verily, I say unto 
you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall 
he do also; and greater works than these shall he 
do; because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever 
ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the 
Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask 
anything in My name, I will do it.” 

Here the promise of power to reproduce the mirac- 
ulous works of Christ, and even “greater works than 
these,” is connected with the general promise that 
God will answer prayer when offered in the name of 
Jesus Christ. And who shall say that the perpetuity 
of the former is not coextensive with that of the lat- 
ter? Tradition and carnal reasoning may have the 
audacity to divorce what God has thus inseparably 
joined, but reverent faith in the Word of God says, 
“God forbid; yea, let God be true, but every man a 
liar” (Rom. 3:4). 

Dr. Adam Clarke, commenting on the words, “the 
works that I do shall he do also,” etc., says: “An 
impostor might seduce the people by false miracles ; 
but he could not make his power and cunning pass to 
all those who were seduced by him ; but I will give 
you this proof of the Divinity of My mission and the 

♦Dr. A. J. Gordon, in “Ministry of Healing.” 


PROMISES CONCERNING THEM UNLIMITED 345 

truth of My doctine.” We can not understand our 
Lord’s words otherwise than as teaching that, under 
the dispensation and ministry of the Holy Spirit, He 
would ever enable His true followers to accomplish 
vastly more than His own personal ministry had 
effected. And, so far as the work of converting and 
saving men is concerned, none will deny that the 
promise holds true to this day. On what authority, 
then, shall we say that it does not likewise hold true 
in reference to miraculous “signs,” which were cer- 
tainly included in the “works” to which our Lord 
referred ? 

There is another remarkable passage in the Epistle 
of James, to which attention is now called: “Is any 
sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the 
Church ; and let them pray over him, anointing him 
with oil in the name of the Lord ; and the prayer of 
faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him 
up ; and if he have committed sins, they shall be for- 
given him. Confess your faults one to another, and 
pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The 
effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth 
much” (James 5 : 14-16) . 

Here, as in many other Scriptures, the miracle of 
healing is spoken of as accompanying the forgiveness 
of sins. And let it be distinctly noted that it is the 
same “prayer of faith” the same “effectual, fervent 
prayer of the righteous man” which accomplishes 
both results. The anointing with oil was in no sense of 
the word a medicinal or sanitary measure, but rather 
a solemn act of consecrating the afflicted person to 
the service of God, and a symbolic representation of 
the Holy Ghost, which is frequently termed “an 


346 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


unction” and an “anointing.” It was not the anoint- 
ing with oil, but “the prayer of faith” that should 
heal the sick, and procure the pardon of any sins he 
might have committed. Nor is there the slightest 
intimation that either of these promises pertained 
only to believers who lived in the first age of Chris- 
tian history. To limit that part of this Scripture 
which refers to supernatural healing to the apostolic 
age, and make that which speaks of the pardon of 
sin of universal application, is to do utter violence 
to every principle of consistent interpretation and to 
impose on the common sense of mankind. 

Regarding the Church as “the body of Christ,” 
and her enduement as “the fulness of Him that fill- 
eth all in all,” Edward Irving held that the body 
ought in every age to exhibit in some degree that 
miraculous power which belongs to Him who is its 
exalted Head. He regarded the extraordinary gifts 
of the Holy Ghost as “intended not only for a per- 
petual demonstration of Christ’s power, as now living 
and glorified, but also as visible foretokens of His 
coming kingdom.” Believing that “the gifts and call- 
ing of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11 : 29) , he 
regarded the cessation of miracles as a result of the 
Church’s declension from the primitive faith, rather 
than as due to any revocation on the part of God. 

The power of miracles must either be speedily revived in 
the Church [says Irving], or there will be a universal domin- 
ion of the mechanical philosophy, and faith will be fairly ex- 
pelled to give place to the law of cause and effect acting and 
ruling in the world of mind as it doth in the world of sense. 

Again he writes : 

These gifts have ceased, I would say, just as the verdure 


HOW THOSE IN HEATHEN LANDS REGARD IT 347 

and leaves and flowers and fruits of the spring and summer 
and autumn cease in winter. Because by the chill and wintry 
blasts which have blown over the Church, her power to put 
forth her glorious beauty hath been prevented. But because 
the winter is without a green leaf or beautiful flower, do 
men thereof argue that there shall be flowers and fruits no 
more?* 

Moved intensely by such convictions as these, 
Irving sought by fervent prayer, powerful reason- 
ing and earnest exhortation to awaken the Church to 
reclaim her lost inheritance of spiritual gifts. And 
his contending so earnestly for these things, as be- 
longing to “the faith which was once delivered to the 
saints,” brought upon him much pain and persecu- 
tion, occasioned his expulsion from the Scotch 
Church, and caused his splendid career to suffer an 
eclipse. Possibly he may have erred in attaching un- 
due importance to the “gifts,” but may it not be 
rather that these results were inevitable, because of 
that grossness of mind and heart which rendered 
those by whom he was to be judged incapable of dis- 
tinguishing between fanatical innovation and spir- 
itual reformation? Irving suffered for the defense 
of these principles, but his labors and sufferings were 
productive of precious fruit in others, by enabling 
them to lay hold of God’s promises regarding the 
gifts of the Spirit, especially the “gifts of healing,” 
as they had never been able to do before. 

HOW THOSE IN HEATHEN LANDS REGARD IT 

When the Gospel is introduced among the heathen, 
who are uninstructed in the art of using the “exeget- 

♦Quoted by Dr. Gordon. 


348 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


ical penknife,” like modern Jehoiakims, those who 
receive it in the simplicity of faith, in many in- 
stances, receive alike its promises of grace and its 
promises of spiritual gifts. Finding these promises 
conjoined in the New Testament, as in the instances 
we have been considering, they make no such effort 
to divorce them as do many expositors and divines 
in Christian lands. Consequently they are often 
found putting to a practical test, and that success- 
fully, the promises concerning miraculous gifts and 
signs. Especially is this the case with reference to 
the promises of Divine healing. 

Professor Christleib, a devout and eminent theo- 
logian of Bonn University, writing on the subject we 
are now considering says : 

Our age is still characterized by the establishment of new 
churches. The work of missions is outwardly at least more 
extended than it ever was before. In this region therefore, 
according to our former rule, miracles should not be entirely 
wanting. Nor are they. We can not, therefore, fully admit 
the proposition that no more miracles are performed in our 
day. In the history of modern missions, we find many won- 
derful occurrences which unmistakably remind us of the 
apostolic age. In both periods there are similar hindrances 
to be overcome in the heathen world, and similar confirma- 
tions of the Word are needed to convince the dull sense of 
men ; we may therefore expect miracles in this case.* 

In the same work, this eminent scholar and writer 
cites several instances of what appears to have been 
miraculous healing, in the genuineness of which he 
expresses fullest confidence. One is from the history 
of Hans Egede, the first Evangelical missionary to 
Greenland. Before he had acquired a knowledge of 

♦“Modern Doubt and Christian Belief,” p. 332. 


HOW THOSE IN HEATHEN LANDS REGARD IT 349 

their language, he had given the Esquimaux a pic- 
torial representation of Christ working miracles. 
After this his hearers urged him to prove the power 
of this Redeemer to heal their sick people. With 
sighing and fervent prayer, he ventured to lay his 
hands upon several, and as he prayed they were made 
whole in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Another instance is related of an earnest, native 
Christian at a Rhenish mission station in South 
Africa, in 1858, who, seeing an old friend who had 
been crippled in both legs, retired into the bushes 
to pray, after which he approached the lame man, 
and said, “The same Jesus who made the lame to 
walk , can do so still: I say unto thee , in the name of 
Jesus, rise and walk.” The lame man, at once en- 
dued with like faith, raised himself on his staff 
and walked, to the astonishment of all who beheld 
him. 

A still more remarkable instance related by the 
Professor, is the case of Nommensen, a missionary 
employed by the Rhenish society, in Sumatra. The 
statement is given as follows : 

On one occasion a heathen who had designs on his life, 
managed secretly to mix a deadly poison in the rice which 
Nommensen was preparing for his dinner. Without suspi- 
cion, the missionary ate the rice, and the heathen watched 
for him to fall down dead. Instead of this, however, the 
promise contained in Mark 16 : 10, was fulfilled, and he did 
not experience the slightest inconvenience. The heathen, by 
this palpable miraculous proof of the Christian God’s power, 
became convinced of the truth, and was eventually con- 
verted; but not until his conscience had impelled him to 
confess his guilt to Nommensen, did the latter know from 
what danger he had been preserved. This incident is well 
attested, and the missionary still lives (1873). 


350 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


A missionary who has been laboring in China for 
many years under the auspices of the Presbyterian 
Board, tells of how, with the New Testament in their 
possession, the native converts are continually put- 
ting into practise its promises concerning miraculous 
healing. From this fact he has been led to revise 
his own opinion on this subject, and to declare it as 
his belief that “the gifts of the Spirit were not taken 
from the Church,” but that “our faith ought to exer- 
cise and claim them now.” 

An instance is also related and well authenticated 
concerning the miraculous healing of Kev. Albert 
Norton, in Ellichpur, India, in 1879. He was suffer- 
ing from an abscess in the liver, which had worked 
itself through the pleura, and had commenced dis- 
charging into the right lung. His pain was almost 
unendurable. He suffered also from malarious re- 
mittent fever. Death seemed inevitable and near. 
While considering how he might die as easily as pos- 
sible, he was seized with a sudden desire to live, for 
the sake of his family, and that he might preach the 
unsearchable riches of Christ. The thought flashed 
upon his mind, “Why can not God heal you?” At 
his request his wife, the only Christian within 
eighteen miles except an ignorant native lad, 
anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord, and 
united with him in prayer to God for his recovery. 
While engaged in vocal prayer, and before he felt 
any change in his body, the assurance was given him 
that their prayers were heard. His prayer was then 
turned to praise. The acute pain and the fever at 
once subsided, and neither returned again. He was 
able immediately to read some from the Scriptures, 


GIFTS DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES 35 1 

and to look out a few Greek passages. He was also 
soon able to walk half a mile without fatigue. A de- 
tailed account of this whole matter, in his own hand- 
writing, was sent to Dr. Stanton, of Cincinnati, for- 
merly Moderator of the General Assembly. The ac- 
count was also related by Rev. W. E. Boardman, in 
The Great Physician , and in an abridged form by 
Rev. A. J. Gordon, in The Ministry of Healing. 

With such a class of Scripture promises before us 
as we have been considering, and with such testi- 
monies as those just cited regarding their literal 
fulfilment when put to the test by those whose faith 
has not been corrupted by tradition and “the opposi- 
tions of science, falsely so-called,” we are not ready 
to accept the common statement of modern theolo- 
gians that “The age of miracles has passed away.” 
We believe rather, to quote the words ascribed to 
Bengel, that “The reason why many miracles are not 
now wrought, is not so much because faith is estab- 
lished, as that unbelief reigns.” 

GIFTS DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES 

A second consideration from which we argue that 
the “gifts of the Holy Ghost” were designed as a per- 
manent enduement for the Church of Christ, is the 
fact that they continued in common exercise among 
Christians during the first three centuries , and have 
never wholly disappeared. 

Those who accept the tradition that miracles 
passed away from the Church with the apostolic age, 
overlook the testimony of history regarding this mat- 
ter. This is an important consideration; for if it 


35 2 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


can be shown conclusively that miraculous gifts were 
common during the first three centuries of the 
Church’s history, no reason can be produced to show 
that the Church of the nineteenth century is not 
equally eligible to the same spiritual gifts. Had this 
stream of supernatural manifestations been suddenly 
arrested at the close of the apostolic period, or with- 
in a generation or two thereafter, we might, with 
some degree of plausibility, argue that it was de- 
signed only as confirmatory of the Christian system 
during the period of its introduction and establish- 
ment. But if we find that, instead of an abrupt 
termination at the close of the first age of Christian 
history, there was a continuation of miraculous man- 
ifestations throughout the second and third centuries, 
the question naturally arises, Why should there be 
any cessation of these supernatural enduements so 
long as the dispensation of the Spirit continues in 
force, and the Church’s mission is unfulfilled? 

We are not wanting in abundant and reliable testi- 
mony to prove that the extraordinary gifts of the 
Spirit were conferred upon and exercised by Chris- 
tian believers during the first three centuries, and 
even into the fourth century of the Christian era. 

Justin Martyr, one of the early fathers, who lived 
about A. D. 130, in his second Apology, Chap. VI, 
says: 

And now you can learn from this what is under your own 
observation. 

For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world 
and in your city, many of our Christian men, exorcising them 
in the name of Jesus Christ who was crucified under Pontius 
Pilate, have healed, and do heal, rendering [delivering] help- 
less men, and driving the possessing devils out of the men, 


GIFTS DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES 353 


though they could not be cured by all other exorcists and 
those who used incantations and drugs. 

Irenseus, who lived during the same century, in 
his Epistle Against Heresies, says : 

Wherefore, also, those who are in truth His disciples, re- 
ceiving grace from Him, do in His name perform [miracles], 
so as to promote the welfare of other men, according to the 
gift which each has received from Him. For some do cer- 
tainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have 
been cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe [in 
Christ], and join themselves to the Church. Others have 
foreknowledge of things to come : they see visions, and utter 
prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying 
their hands upon them, and they are made whole. * * * 

And what shall I more say? It is not possible to name the 
number of gifts which the Church [scattered] throughout 
the whole world has received from God, in the name of 
Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and 
which she exerts day by day for the benefit of the Gentiles, 
neither practising deception upon any, nor taking any reward 
from them [on account of such miraculous interpositions]. 
For as she has freely received from God, freely also does she 
minister [to others]. 

Origen, the date of whose published works is A. I). 
230, is also quoted as saying : 

Some give evidence of their having received through their 
faith a marvelous power, by the cures which they perform, 
invoking no other name over those who need their help 
than that of the God of all things and of Jesus, along with 
His history. For by these means we have seen many persons 
freed from grievous calamities, and from distractions of 
mind, and madness, and countless other ills which could be 
cured neither by men nor devils. ( Contra Celsum Book III, 
Chap . 24.) 

Mosheim, in writing of the Fourth Century, Sec- 
tion 23, says : 


354 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


As to the miracles attributed to Anthony, Paul the Hermit, 
and Martin, I give them up without the least difficulty, and 
join with those who treat these pretended prodigies with 
the contempt they deserve. I am also willing to grant, that 
many events have been rashly deemed miraculous, which 
were the result of ordinary laws of nature; and also, that 
pious frauds were sometimes used for the purpose of giving 
new degrees of weight and dignity to the Christian cause. 
But I can not, on the other hand, assent to the opinions of 
those who maintain that in this century miracles had entire- 
ly ceased; and that, at this period, the Church was not 
favored with any extraordinary or supernatural mark of 
a Divine power engaged in its cause.* 

Professor Christleib also says: 

With regard to the continuance of miracles after the 
apostolic age, we have the testimonies, not only from Tertul- 
lian and Origen, who tell us that many in their time were 
convinced, against their will, of the truths of Christianity 
by miraculous visions, but, also, much later from Theodore 
of Mopsueste (429). The latter says: “Many heathen 
amongst us are being healed by Christians from whatever 
sickness they have, so abundant are miracles in our midst.”t 

John Wesley, in his Journal, commenting on a book 
he had been reading on the subject of spiritual gifts, 
says : 

There, it is just as I had supposed ; the manifestation of 
gifts in the Church declined as the Church declined in spir- 
ituality; and ceased with the loss of spiritual power. 

The same writer in another place says : 

It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the 
Holy Ghost were common in the Church for more than two 
or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal 
period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Chris- 
tian, and from a vain imagination of promoting the Chris- 
tchurch History. t“Modern Doubt,” etc., p. 321. 


GIFTS DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES 355 

tian cause thereby, heaped riches and power and honor 
upon the Christians in general, but in particular upon the 
Christian clergy. From this time they almost ceased — very 
few instances of the kind were found. The cause of this 
was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) “because there 
was no more occasion for them,” because all the world was 
become Christians. This is a miserable mistake. Not a 
twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The 
real cause was the love of many, almost of all Christians, 
so called, was “waxed cold.” The Christians had no more of 
the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens. The Son of 
man, when He came to examine His Church, could hardly 
“find faith on the earth.” This was the real cause why the 
extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be 
found in the Christian Church, because the Christians were 
turned heathens again, and had only a dead form left.* 

It is a significant fact that, according to nearly all 
writers on ecclesiastical history, the age of Constan- 
tine is the age from which dates the almost total de- 
cline of miracles ; since that age is generally acknowl- 
edged as the age of transition from the primitive, pure 
and simple forms of Christianity to a degenerate, cor- 
rupt and worldly state of the Church. The decline of 
faith preceded the decline of miraculous gifts. The 
Church ceased almost wholly to depend on her glori- 
fied Lord, and rested instead on the patronage and 
support of earthly kings and emperors ; hence those 
supernatural manifestations which were the “signs” 
and accompaniments of the primitive faith rapidly 
disappeared. When there was no longer a reliance 
on the supernatural means ordained of God for the 
promotion of Christianity, there were no longer 
supernatural and sensuous demonstrations of God’s 
presence and power in the midst of the Church. 

•Sermons, Vol. II., p. 266. 


356 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


GIFTS REAPPEAR DURING GREAT REVIVALS 

Right here, however, another fact is suggested, 
which we regard as an evidence that the “gifts of the 
Holy Ghost” were designed as the abiding heritage 
of the Church. In all ages since the Church’s first 
great declension, whenever there has been a revival 
of the primitive faith, and a renewal of the Church 
in any of its branches in the grace of the Gospel, 
there have also been manifested in the same degree 
those miraculous “signs” and extraordinary “gifts” 
which attended the faith of the primitive Christians. 
“These attended the cradle of every spiritual reforma- 
tion, as they did the birth of the Church itself.” The 
records of the Waldenses, Moravians, Huguenots, 
Covenanters, Quakers, Baptists, Methodists, and 
other Christian sects and denominations, are replete 
with accounts showing that the miraculous gifts of 
the Spirit have been perpetuated in the Church to 
some extent through all the declension and darkness 
of the bygone ages. 

Nor is the manifestation of these gifts wanting in 
our own time, especially the “gifts of healing.” 
During the last seventy years a revival of scriptural 
holiness has been in progress throughout the land; 
and it has been no uncommon occurrence among those 
who, in various places and in various churches, have 
received the pentecostal baptism with the Holy 
Ghost, to witness the exercise of spiritual “gifts” and 
“signs.” What can we say of the faith-work of Dr. 
Charles Cullis, of Boston ; of Rev. A. B. Simpson, of 
New York ; of Miss Carrie F. Judd, of Buffalo, N. Y. 
(now Mrs. Montgomery, of San Francisco) ; or, if we 


GIFTS NEEDFUL IN ALL AGES 


357 


turn to the old world, of George Muller and his work 
in England; of Dorothea Trudel and her successor, 
Peter Zeller, in Switzerland ; of Pastor Blum- 
hardt and his ministry in the village of Mottlingen 
in the Black Forest of Germany, and of many 
other similar instances originating within the last 
half of the nineteenth century? What can we 
say but that they are the returning manifesta- 
tions of those spiritual gifts with which the 
Church was endued in the beginning — the miracu- 
lous “signs” or tokens which God designed as a visi- 
ble demonstration of His presence with His people 
in all ages ? The unbelieving may and will endeavor 
to account for everything of this character on the 
principle of natural cause and effect ; but those who 
are possessed of true faith recognize therein the ful- 
filment, in part at least, of the ascended Redeemer’s 
promise, “The works that I do shall ye do also ; and 
greater works than these shall ye do, because I go 
unto my Father.” 

GIFTS NEEDFUL IN ALL AGES 

That the gifts of the Holy Ghost were designed to 
be the permanent heritage of Christianity may be 
argued still further from the fact that they are need- 
ful to the Church in all periods of its history . 

The Church needs the extraordinary gifts of the 
Spirit “to preserve in her own mind the idea of the 
spiritual and the supernatural.” There is, and ever 
has been, an unceasing tendency, even among those 
“who have received the knowledge of the truth” and 
have been made “partakers of the Holy Ghost,” to 

24 


358 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


yield to the sway of mere naturalism, and to lose the 
distinct idea of God’s personality, and of His special 
supernatural providence or interposition in behalf 
of His people. A tendency is everywhere manifested, 
also, to lose the idea of Jesus Christ, as now living 
and glorified, and to rest on the mere historic facts 
pertaining to His earthly manifestation. Yielding to 
these tendencies the Church soon becomes cold and 
powerless — “having a form of godliness, but denying 
the power thereof.” Ceasing to depend on her living 
and glorified Redeemer, and to expect the “demon- 
stration of the Spirit and of power,” in confirmation 
of her testimony, she resorts to worldly policy and to 
human devices for augmenting and extending her in- 
fluence. Expensive architecture, splendid decoration 
and ornamentation, operatic musical performances, 
dramatic entertainments, magnificent pomp and cere- 
mony are the means chiefly relied on for “reaching 
the masses” wfith the Gospel of Christ. What a con- 
trast to the apostolic manner of preaching the Gospel 
“in demonstration of the Spirit” until the multitudes 
“were pricked in their hearts” and led to cry out, 
“Men and brethren, what shall we do ?” In this way 
the first great decline of power and spirituality in the 
Church began. In this way the signs of apostasy 
continued to multiply, until the Church was in- 
volved in that long and dismal night known as the 
Dark Ages. 

Nearly all Protestant churches are now and every- 
where unconsciously putting forth signs and confes- 
sions of spiritual degeneracy similar to those which 
betokened the beginning of the Church’s first great 
declension from her primitive faith. The evidences 


GIFTS NEEDFUL IN ALL AGES 


359 


of declining faith and spirituality may be seen in the 
dependence which is placed on culture, music, elo- 
quence, ritualism, architectural display, literary and 
social entertainments, floral decorations, bazaars, 
fairs, festivals, and whatever appeals to the natural 
tastes and sensibilities of men, as the means of at- 
tracting them to the place of worship, and procuring 
their aid in supporting religious enterprises. “Hear 
the reports that come in at any annual convention of 
churches, of the new organs, and frescoeings, and 
furnishings, and of the — not saints’ festivals — but 
strawberry festivals, and ice-cream festivals, and 
flower festivals, and the large results therefrom ac- 
cruing. And all this from churches that account 
themselves to be the body of Christ and the habita- 
tion of God through the Spirit! Is not this an in- 
finite descent from the primitive records of power 
and success — the Lord ‘confirming the Word with 
signs follotving / and the preaching which was ‘not 
with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demon- 
stration of the Spirit and of power?’” 

These things are unmistakable signs that Protes- 
tant Christianity is rapidly losing the idea of the 
supernatural and the spiritual. To check this ten- 
dency, and to preserve in the members of Christ’s 
mystical body the idea of that supernatural, spiritual, 
and Divine Agency on which the success of Christian- 
ity wholly depends, the visible, miraculous “demon- 
stration of the Spirit,” is greatly needed. Let the 
Church fully awake to a realization of her privileges 
in this respect; let her begin to “covet earnestly the 
best gifts,” and in the same measure will she cease 
to covet worldly riches and honor, the patronage and 


360 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


support of worldly rulers, and the glory and at- 
tractiveness which appeal only to the natural tastes 
and senses of men. 

. The gifts of the Spirit are needful to the Church as 
pledges or foretokens of “the restitution of all 
things” by Jesus Christ at His coming and kingdom. 
Miracles are declared to be “for signs.” And as 
signs they have reference not merely to the authen- 
tication of Christianity, but they point heavenward, 
assuring the world that Jesus Christ, who once was 
crucified, is alive again and enthroned as “over all, 
God blessed for evermore;” and they point forward 
as prophetic of the Lord’s return to deliver the groan- 
ing creation “into the glorious liberty of the sons of 
God.” 

Miracles are not, as some suppose, abnormal mani- 
festations of Divine power. They are above nature, 
but not opposed to nature. Were they contra-natural 
as well as supernatural they might reasonably be 
expected to cease. But miracles are not infractions 
upon the laws of nature, as skeptics and rejectors of 
the supernatural allege. They are rather specimens 
of the health, and order, and harmony and perfection 
that existed in the natural creation before the dis- 
turbing and deranging presence of sin introduced 
disorder, disease and death; and they are samples, 
or first-fruits also of “Paradise regained” — of a fin- 
ished redemption — of “the restitution of all things 
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy 
prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21). 

For surely [says Professor Christleib] it is plainly con- 
trary to nature that one should have eyes and not see, ears 
and not hear, organs of speech and not speak, and limbs 


GIFTS NEEDFUL IN ALL AGES 


361 


without the power to use them ; but not that a Savior should 
come and loose his fetters. It was contrary to nature that 
ruthless death should sever the bands of love which God 
Himself has knit between mother and son, between brother 
and sister ; but not that the young man of Nain, or Lazarus, 
should be released from the fetters of death through a mighty 
Word ! And that was the climax of the unnatural that the 
world should nail the only righteous One to the cross; but 
not that the holy Bearer of that cross should conquer unde- 
served death, should rise and victoriously enter into His 
glory.* 

“The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in 
pain together until now,” are the words of an in- 
spired apostle. And this groaning and travailing of 
creation is not a normal condition, but is the result 
of disturbance and derangement. From the begin- 
ning it was not so ; nor shall it continue to be so al- 
ways. But “the creation itself also shall be delivered 
from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the 
glory of the children of God. And not only so, but 
ourselves also which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, 
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for 
our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” 
(Rom. 8:21, 22; R. V.). This is the glorious end to 
be accomplished by our Lord’s redeeming work, and 
toward which the faith and hope of the Church 
should ever be directed. In order to its accomplish- 
ment, and in order to perpetuate the faith and hope 
of the Church concerning it until its consummation, 
miraculous agency would seem to be a necessity. “As 
disturbance has entered the world by sin, as nature 
visibly attests, God must needs miraculously inter- 
fere to nullify that disturbance.” 

♦“Modern Doubt,” pp. 314, 315. 


362 


THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS GIFTS 


Miracles are not, then, “a violation of nature’s 
laws,” as Hume alleges, but are rather effects pro- 
duced by “the introduction of a new Agent.” We 
know by experience that the free will of man can be 
so directed as to modify the otherwise uniform laws 
of nature, as in the counteracting, without destroy- 
ing the inferior law of gravitation. “Infinitely more 
can the Divine will introduce a new element, counter- 
acting, without destroying, lower physical law; the 
higher law for a time controls and suspends the action 
of the lower. Or, daw’ being simply the expression 
of God’s will, in miracles God’s will intervenes, for 
certain moral ends, to suspend His ordinary mode of 
working.”* And the moral ends for which miracles 
were wrought by Christ, and are wrought by others 
in His name, are to prove that He is the promised De- 
liverer, whose mission is to destroy the works of the 
devil, and to afford the Church a shadow and a fore- 
taste of complete redemption and of millennial glory. 
The same need for this foreshadowing and earnest of 
“the restitution of all things” which existed in the be- 
ginning of the Church’s history, exists to-day, and 
will continue to exist until the Lord Himself shall 
come to “create all things new.” 

There is also the same need of miraculous gifts in 
the Church now as in the beginning of her history, so 
far as her mission in planting Christianity in heathen 
lands is unfulfilled. It is said by those who contend 
that the age of miracles has passed away, that “mira- 
cles belong to the planting of Christianity, not to its 
progress and development.” What is the work of the 
missionary, we would inquire, but that of planting 


♦Faussett. 


GIFTS NEEDFUL IN ALL AGES 


363 


Christianity? What is the difference between St. 
Paul among the barbarians at Melita, and Adoniram 
Judson in India, or William Taylor in Africa? As 
Christleib says: 

In both periods there are similar hindrances to be over- 
come in the heathen world, and similar confirmations of the 
Word are needed to convince the dull sense of men; we may 
therefore expect miracles in this case.* 

If “miracles belong to the planting of Christian- 
ity” there certainly can be no inherent probability 
of their entire withdrawal from the Church so long 
as there are new and vast fields opening in the 
heathen world for the introduction and establish- 
ment of the Christian religion. 

♦“Modern Doubt and Christian Belief,” p. 322. 


XXVII 


DISHONORING THE HOLY SPIRIT 

It requires but a slight acquaintance with condi- 
tions in the religious world to-day to disclose the fact 
that the Holy Spirit is largely dishonored among 
those who regularly recite the Apostles’ Creed as a 
part of their Sabbath worship. As there were many 
in Christ’s time who said to Him, “Lord, Lord,” but 
who disregarded the things which He enjoined, so 
there are many to-day who repeat every Lord’s Day 
that part of the Creed which says, “I believe in the 
Holy Ghost,” but who are not careful to honor Him, 
and who, because of not knowing Him, experimen- 
tally, continually do those things that dishonor Him. 

Such persons have never entered into the true sig- 
nificance of that part of the Creed which expresses 
belief in the Holy Spirit; have never consciously re- 
ceived Him into their hearts in His witnessing, re- 
generating, sanctifying, and comforting Presence ; are 
as ignorant of His manifold ministry within believers 
as were those whom Paul addressed at Ephesus when 
he inquired, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since 
ye believed?” and who answered, “We have not so 
much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost,” or, 
as in the R. V., “whether the Holy Ghost was given.” 

Not all who are thus ignorant of the Spirit’s in- 
ward working give prominence to the doctrine of the 
364 


BY BEING REGARDED AS IMPERSONAL 365 


Holy Spirit by public recitation of the Apostles’ 
Creed, but all who profess the evangelical faith, 
whether extreme ritualists, moderate ritualists, or 
antiritualists, do profess a faith of which belief in 
the Holy Spirit is an essential part, and are thereby 
solemnly obligated to honor Him as to His exalted 
nature and His manifold offices. Yet there has ever 
been such a tendency to rest in an orthodox creed to 
the utter neglect of the experience it was designed to 
produce, that many have mistaken orthodoxy for 
Christianity ; have rested in the form without experi- 
encing the power ; have been satisfied with the shadow 
without the substance ; and, as a result, while nom- 
inally believing in the doctrine of the Spirit, have 
nevertheless been living so under the dominion of 
the flesh, that they could not honor Him as they 
should have done, but on the other hand have openly 
and habitually dishonored Him. 

We can never honor the Holy Spirit as we should 
until we know Him by an experience of the heart. So 
long as one yields to the dominion of the flesh, living 
to gratify its desires, and to pamper its passions and 
lusts, he is serving a tyrant whose service is the worst 
of vassalage, and whose dictum will always lead to 
dishonoring the Spirit of God. “For if ye live after 
the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye through the Spirit do 
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 
8 : 13 ). 

DISHONORED BY BEING REGARDED AS IMPERSONAL 

Some dishonor the Holy Spirit by treating Him and 
speaking concerning Him as though He were a mere 


366 


DISHONORING THE HOLY SPIRIT 


impersonal object. They regard Him as a thing, or 
an influence, and not as a Person. Accordingly they 
are accustomed to speak of the Spirit as it , rather 
than as He. It is evident that they think thus of 
Him, or they would not so speak of Him. The idea 
must precede the language in which it is expressed. 
They regard Him rather as an impersonal influence 
exerted by another, than as a true Person influencing 
men by the exercise of a true and proper personality. 
To many people the Holy Spirit is merely a kind of 
gracious heavenly influence distilled upon God’s peo- 
ple from the celestial regions as dew or rain distils 
upon the grass. But we have already seen, in Chap- 
ter II of this volume, that the Scriptures represent 
the Holy Spirit as a Person in such an array of in- 
stances as leaves no room to doubt His true and 
proper personality. 

But some one may ask, “Does not Romans 8 : 16 
warrant speaking of the Spirit of God as it ?” The 
passage referred to reads, in the Authorized Ver- 
sion, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
spirit that we are the children of God.” But the 
word “itself” has long been regarded as a mistransla- 
tion by critical scholars, which has been corrected, 
and that wisely, in the Revised Version, which makes 
it read, “The Spirit Himself,” etc. The fact is that 
the Holy Spirit is as truly a Person as Jesus Christ 
is. Yet the faith of multitudes in the Spirit of God 
is much more vague and indefinite than their faith 
in Christ. Their conceptions of Him are hazy and 
indefinite; and the result of such conceptions is al- 
ways a hazy and indefinite Christian experience. 
Such conceptions of the Holy Spirit invariably 


BY BEING REGARDED AS A CREATURE 3 67 


weaken faith in Christ Himself, and prove a barrier 
to robustness of Christian character. 

To regard the Spirit of God as an impersonal thing 
or influence is to degrade Him in our conception of 
Him from His true and proper personality, which 
“cuts away the ground for that strong faith in Him 
which is requisite to secure His abiding presence in 
us and the complete work of His offices.” This is 
alike dishonoring to the Spirit and injurious to the 
soul who indulges such degrading conceptions. 
Whether we regard Him as a thing, or an influence, 
or an attribute of God, or the power of God, or the 
exerted energy of God, makes no difference. In any 
such case we degrade Him in our conceptions of Him 
from His exalted character, render true faith in Him 
as the Paraclete or indwelling Comforter impossible, 
shut up from ourselves the chief means of access to 
fellowship with God, and doom ourselves to lives of 
perpetual uncertainty regarding our relation to 
heaven and regarding the matter of personal salva- 
tion. 

DISHONORED BY BEING REGARDED AS A CREATURE 

We also dishonor the Holy Spirit if we regard Him 
as anything or any person less than God. The spirit 
of a thing is its inmost self. The spirit of a man is 
his inmost self. So the Spirit of God is God’s inmost 
self — Essential Deity. It was the burden of Chapter 
III to demonstrate the Godhead or Deity of the Holy 
Spirit. The Holy Scriptures seem to make this mat- 
ter very clear. It has been the orthodox faith of the 
Church for ages. Moreover, throughout all the ages 


368 


DISHONORING THE HOLY SPIRIT 


of Christian history where this faith has been most 
devoutly held and most wisely preached there have 
been witnessed the greatest advances of the Church 
in spirituality, and in aggressive and successful evan- 
gelism; while, as a rule, neither spirituality nor ag- 
gressive and successful evangelism has ever attended 
the proclamation of the Arian and Socinian doctrine 
of the Holy Spirit, whether preached from Unitarian 
or supposedly orthodox pulpits. 

Arianism, which derives its name from Arms, a presbyter 
of Alexandria in the fourth century, teaches that the God- 
head consists of one eternal Person, who, in the beginning, 
created, in His own image, a superangelic being, His only- 
begotten Son, by whom He made the worlds; and that the 
Holy Ghost was the first and greatest creature whom the Son 
created. This system, therefore, while it professedly allows 
a kind of inferior Deity to the Son and the Spirit, denies all 
proper consubstantiality and coeternity with the Father, and 
consequently all that constitutes peculiar and supreme 
Divinity.* 

Though differing widely on other matters of doc- 
trine, the Socinians hold that the Holy Spirit is a 
created being, the creature of a creature, the same as 
do the Arians for the most part. Both are chiefly 
represented in our day by the Unitarians. Moreover, 
in the form of Unitarian belief the errors of both 
have crept into the ministry of certain orthodox 
churches to an alarming extent. To entertain 
such views, or any views that regard the Holy 
Spirit as less than God, is to dishonor Him, and to 
rob one’s self “of the ground for the strongest pos- 
sible faith in the Spirit.” Whenever in our teaching 
we place any of the processes of salvation on a 

*Field’s “Handbook of Christian Theology,” p. 88. 


BY RELIANCE ON SUBSTITUTES 


369 


natural basis instead of claiming for them the super- 
natural agency of the Holy Spirit, we certainly dis- 
honor Him. Yet many who would not dare to sub- 
stitute any other mediator for the Lord Jesus Christ, 
apparently have no hesitation in substituting various 
natural agencies for the indispensable and super- 
natural agency of the Holy Spirit of God. 

BY RELIANCE ON SUBSTITUTES 

The Holy Spirit is particularly dishonored by the 
substitution of other things instead of His agency 
in much of the Church activity of the present time. 
In proportion as a Church loses the presence and 
power of the Holy Spirit other things are invariably 
resorted to with a view to attracting and interesting 
the multitudes, and raising means for the advance- 
ment of the work of the Church. Fine architecture, 
operatic music, decorative art, ritualism and symbol- 
ism ; learned essays and popular lectures instead of 
apostolic preaching of the Gospel ; gossiping socials, 
ice-cream festivals, strawberry festivals, and other 
festivals too numerous to mention ; lawn parties, pic- 
nics, chicken dinners, oyster suppers, and clam-bake 
and chowder gatherings; musicales with admission 
fee, young people’s lyceums, Browning clubs, Shakes- 
peare clubs and other literary clubs galore ; dramas, 
tableaux, exhibitions, drills, and games of various 
kinds, including in some instances games of chance; 
carnivals, lotteries, grab-bags, and sometimes fan- 
dangoes of which it seems almost a shame even to 
hint in this connection ; these are some of the hundred 
and one things that are substituted by churches in 


370 


DISHONORING THE HOLY SPIRIT 


our day to revive and keep up interest, instead of 
humbling themselves before God and seeking a Pente- 
costal effusion of the Holy Spirit. Not all the fore- 
going things are equally bad in themselves, and a few 
of them, apart from their abuse in the professed 
service of religion, are innocent enough, but it is the 
substitution of these things for the Holy Spirit which 
should be everywhere condemned. Not even the sub- 
stitution of popular evangelism for the Holy Spirit 
can be scripturally justified. “Not by might, nor by 
power, but by my Spirit, saitli the Lord” (Zech. 4:6). 

BY LIGHTLY ESTEEMING HIS AGENCY 

The Holy Spirit is dishonored by placing an in- 
ferior estimate upon His agency in the work of in- 
dividual salvation, and in the Church’s "work for 
advancing the kingdom of God. The Spirit is the 
Great Executive of the Godhead. All the concerns 
of man’s salvation and of the kingdom of God are now 
under His exclusive and direct administration. This 
is peculiarly the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. 
None but He can convict the world of sin, of right- 
eousness, and of judgment. He alone can so interpret 
the Scriptures to the minds of men as to make them 
spiritually luminous. Only He can regenerate the 
heart, accomplish the work of inward and complete 
sanctification, guide, develop, strengthen, comfort, 
and inspire believers, unify and edify the Church, 
“until we all come, in the unity of the faith and of 
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ.” To place an inferior estimate upon His 


HOW MINISTERS DISHONOR THE SPIRIT 


agency, therefore, either in the matter of personal 
salvation or of the Church’s mission in advancing the 
interests of God’s kingdom, is most assuredly to dis- 
honor Him, by declining His offices and refusing His 
authority. 

This form of dishonoring the Spirit of God is mani- 
fest at the present day by the multiplication of sub- 
stitutes for His personal agency. “The Spirit is dis- 
honored,” says Dr. Steele, “when anything is substi- 
tuted for His offices in the inspiration of spiritual 
life and the development of Christian character, such 
as a germ of natural goodness instead of the new 
birth, education instead of sanctification, culture of 
the aesthetic tastes instead of the fruit of the Spirit, 
round-about inferences that we are saved, neglecting 
and undervaluing the direct witness of the Spirit 
‘crying in the heart Abba, Father,’ the pleasures of 
sense instead of the joy of the Holy Ghost, the honor 
of men rather than the approval of God.”* 

HOW MINISTERS DISHONOR THE SPIRIT 

Ministers dishonor the Holy Spirit when they de- 
pend more on the display of their gifts, talents, learn- 
ing, wit, quaintness, smartness, sensationalism, or 
spectacular methods, than they do on His presence 
and power for influence with their congregations. 
Young ministers are particularly in danger at this 
point. So much of the evangelism of the time par- 
takes largely of the foregoing characteristics that in 
many places the people are educated to expect such 
methods of pulpit work, and even the ministers them- 

♦“Gospel of the Comforter,” pp. 281, 282. 


372 DISHONORING THE HOLY SPIRIT 

selves who have seen and heard such evangelistic 
performances very often are apt to feel that the 
preaching that is not characterized by these methods 
is dull, mere monotonous humdrum, and so are likely 
almost imperceptibly and unconsciously to imitate 
the dramatic and spectacular methods in their own 
pulpit services. How much better to be like St. Paul, 
who was able to say to the Church at Corinth, “And 
I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with 
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto 
you the testimony of God. For I determined not to 
know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and 
Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and 
in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and 
my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s 
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of 
power : that your faith should not stand in the wis- 
dom of men, but in the power of God !” (1 Cor. 2 : 1-5.) 
Such preaching always honors the Holy Ghost ; other 
kinds of preaching always do Him great dishonor. 

DISHONORED BY BEING GRIEVED 

Professedly Christian people not infrequently 
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and thereby He is 
greatly dishonored. “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of 
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemp- 
tion,” is an apostolic admonition. The Holy Spirit’s 
personal presence in the heart of the believer, and 
His direct, personal testimony to the individual con- 
sciousness of acceptance with God is the seal of God 
upon him, making him as God’s property, and 
authenticating him as God’s representative, until 


DISHONORED BY BEING GRIEVED 


373 


Jesus comes for the final redemption of His people. 
But this Spirit being a Person of infinite holiness is 
very easily grieved by anything on the part of God’s 
people that is inconsistent with holiness. He is an 
infinitely tender and sensitive Person, and when 
grieved by unholy words or actions, or by the mani- 
festation of an unchristlike spirit, His testimony 
is partially or completely withdrawn. As Dr. Adam 
Clarke says, 

Even those who have already a measure of the life and 
light of God, both of which are not only brought in by the 
Holy Spirit, but maintained by His constant indwelling, may 
give way to sin, and so grieve the Holy Spirit that it [He] 
shall withdraw both its [His] light and presence; and, in 
proportion as it [He] withdraws, then hardness and dark- 
ness take place; and, what is still worse, a state of insen- 
sibility is the consequence; for the darkness prevents the 
fallen state from being seen, and the hardness prevents it 
from being felt.* 

All unholy tempers, words, and actions; all de- 
bating the question when the Spirit makes duty 
known to the believer ; all indifference to His prompt- 
ings and solicitations to a closer walk with God, par- 
ticularly to the definite quest of “holiness, without 
which no man can see the Lord all yielding to “the 
lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
life;” and all shrinking from the leadings of the 
Spirit; these are among the things whereby many 
grieve the Holy Spirit of God to their great spiritual 
loss, and sometimes to their own spiritual and eternal 
undoing. To grieve the Spirit in any way is necessa- 
rily to dishonor Him, and whoever does it does it at 
his peril. 

25 *Commentary on Ephesians 4:30. 


374 


DISHONORING THE HOLY SPIRIT 


DISHONORED BY BEING QUENCHED 

Quenching the Spirit is another way in which the 
Spirit is often dishonored. When St. Paul says, 
“Quench not the Spirit,” he is addressing Christians, 
and represents the Spirit as a fire, because of His 
illuminating, penetrating, refining, and transforming 
character; also because of the ardor and zeal which 
He imparts to those in whom He dwells. But as ma- 
terial fire can be quenched, so can the flame which 
the Holy Spirit kindles in the heart and life of the 
believer. Fire may be quenched by withholding fuel 
from it. So the Spirit may be quenched by neglecting 
the Word of God, which is the fuel on which the fire 
of the Holy Spirit feeds. Many neglect their Bibles, 
and then expect lightning strokes from the Holy 
Spirit instead of a steady flame by means of fuel. 
Where this is the case the Spirit is soon quenched, 
and the holy fire ceases to burn altogether. As 
water will quench fire, so vain and foolish conversa- 
tion, uncharitableness to others, yielding to the pres- 
sure of surrounding worldliness, conforming to the 
world in matters great or small, allowing ourselves 
to become so occupied with other matters as to 
neglect the means of grace, will quench the Spirit — ■ 
will extinguish the flame of holy love and zeal which 
it is His province to bestow. Also as fire may be 
quenched by heaping earth upon it, even so the Holy 
Spirit may be quenched and His flame extinguished 
by becoming too zealous for the accumulation of 
worldly goods. “They that will be rich fall into temp- 
tation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful 
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdi- 


DISHONORED BY BEING RESISTED 


375 


tion.” The peril here pointed out is not so much 
that of being rich as of being determined to get rich. 
‘‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,” is 
our Lord’s word of warning to us all ; and one who 
deviates from this precept and begins a course of 
money-getting and money-hoarding will soon find it 
to work like heaping earth upon the fire — extinguish- 
ing the flame once kindled by the Spirit, and leaving 
him spiritually dark, and cold, and insensible. How 
sad it is that so many should dishonor the Holy Spirit 
in some or all of the foregoing ways and in other 
ways as well ! 


DISHONORED BY BEING RESISTED 

Then also the Holy Spirit is frequently dishonored 
by being resisted. St. Stephen, when addressing those 
Jews who conspired to accomplish his martyrdom, 
said: “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, 
and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ; as your 
fathers did, so do ye.” They had received circum- 
cision in the flesh, and prided themselves in being the 
children of Abraham. They were the Churchmen, 
even the High Churchmen, of their day. But they 
were wicked men, nevertheless, “uncircumcised in 
heart and ears,” and manifested it by their resistance 
to the Holy Ghost, and by their opposition to one who 
was “a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and 
faith,” carrying their opposition to the degree of 
stoning him to death ! How blind and cruel is mere 
churchly zeal! What horrors upon horrors it has 
wrought through the ages, and that in the name of re- 


376 


DISHONORING THE HOLY SPIRIT 


ligion ! How often and indescribably it has dishon- 
ored the Holy Spirit of God by resistances that seem 
to have partaken of the character of the unpardon- 
able sin! 


DISHONORED BY BEING VEXED 

Of ancient Israel it is said, “But they rebelled and 
vexed His Holy Spirit, wherefore He was turned to 
be their enemy.” Here is another way of dishonoring 
the Holy Spirit, quite akin to that which has just 
been noticed, and yet unlike it in some particulars. 
Though God had wrought by many miracles and won- 
ders for their deliverance from Egypt, and had inter- 
posed in numerous ways for their maintenance and 
defense in the wilderness, still upon what should have 
been regarded as slight provocation they “rebelled,” 
threw off their allegiance to the Most High in their 
corporate capacity, and “vexed,” that is, challenged, 
annoyed, provoked, the Spirit of God, until “He was 
turned to be their enemy, and fought against them.” 
There must have been some very malignant elements 
in their resistance of the Holy Spirit, for nowhere 
else in Scripture is He represented as becoming an 
enemy and fighting against those who oppose and in- 
sult Him. Those who resist the Spirit are ever in 
danger of carrying their resistance to the point of so 
rebelling against Him and provoking this Messenger 
of Beconciliation that He will turn to be their enemy, 
and fight against them ! 


XXVIII 


BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 
THREE ACCOUNTS 

The teachings of Christ on this awful subject are 
recorded by three of the evangelists, as follows: 

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blas- 
phemy shall be forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And who- 
soever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be 
forgiven him : but whosoever speaketh against the Holy 
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, 
neither in the world to come. (Matt. 12:31, 32.) 

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the 
sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall 
blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy 
Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal 
damnation: because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. 
(Mark 3:28-30.) 

And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, 
it shall be forgiven him : but unto him that blasphemeth 
against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. (Luke 
12 : 10 .) 

In these Scriptures there is a plain distinction made 
between blasphemy against Jesus Christ, and the 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. The difference, 
however, is not in the nature of the blasphemy ex- 
pressed in the two instances, but rather in the Ob- 
jects or Persons against whom it is directed, and in 
the circumstances attending its manifestation. 


377 


37§ BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 
BLASPHEMY DEFINED 

Blasphemy literally signifies defamatory or injuri- 
ous speaking. It is generally restricted, in its present 
use, to an indignity or affront offered to the Deity, in 
either oral or written language. The scriptural use 
of the term, as may be seen from the foregoing pas- 
sages, makes it consist in “speaking against” one of 
the sacred Persons of the Godhead. 

We must not suppose, however, that every evil or 
profane word uttered against the Holy Spirit consti- 
tutes the sin which is unpardonable. Every such 
utterance is certainly presumptuous, and, if unre- 
pented, will surely bring Divine retribution upon the 
transgressor. But all ordinary profanity, even 
though spoken against the Spirit of God, may be re- 
pented and forgiven; while the blasphemy of which 
our Savior speaks, is of so malignant a character as 
to constitute an unexpiable sin. The particular sin 
in question consists in such a “speaking against the 
Holy Ghost” as involves a deliberate and final de- 
cision against Him — a determined and malignant an- 
tagonism to His Person and offices. 

The language and conduct of the Pharisees, to 
whom our Lord addressed this language, partook of 
this character. Their blasphemous utterances against 
Christ bordered so closely on the commission of the 
unpardonable sin, as to call forth these words of 
solemn and awful warning. Jesus had cast out a 
devil in their presence, as proof, according to their 
own acknowledged principles, that He was the Son 
of God. They were compelled to admit the miracle as 
a fact, but were determined not to admit its force 


PREMEDITATED CRIME 


379 


as evidence . Hence they ascribed the miracle, though 
wrought against the empire of Satan, to satanic in- 
stead of Divine influence. They exhibited their 
malignity toward Christ by declaring, “This fellow 
doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince 
of the devils.” 


PREMEDITATED CRIME 

This was no sudden ebullition of feeling on the part of the 
Pharisees. It was not uttered in a moment of excitement, but 
was a premeditated thing, and undertaken with the design 
of undermining the authority of Christ among the people. 
They had made up their minds deliberately to reject Him — 
to put Him to death. But they wanted the people with them. 
From the very first the masses had heard Him gladly. They 
had followed Him in vast throngs to the mountain, the sea- 
shore, and the desert; they had hung upon His lips as He 
uttered His loving words, and had stood in wonderment and 
awe in the presence of His stupendous miracles. It would 
seem, therefore, that the Pharisees had resolved on one of 
these three expedients, or upon all of them : Either they must 
turn the people against Him, or they must put Him to death 
privately, or they must so involve Him with the Roman gov- 
ernment as to insure Plis death as a traitor to that govern- 
ment. They were now trying the first of these expedients, 
and hence they came out thus boldly and blasphemously.* 

It was the cool and premeditated character of their 
sin which evidenced its malignant spirit and called 
forth our Lord’s solemn utterances concerning the 
sin against the Holy Ghost. 

It was the outward act of His enemies in speaking 
against our Savior’s miracles, which called forth His 
warning concerning the unpardonable sin. But we 

♦Dunn’s “Mission of the Spirit,” p. 211. 


380 BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 

should remember what He Himself says on this sub- 
ject, in the same connection — how the things which 
come out of a man are evil because they are products 
of an evil heart, as evil fruit is the product of an evil 
tree. We should remember how it is said that “Jesus 
knowing their thoughts” addressed to them these 
words; thereby fixing the weight of His condemna- 
tion upon the purpose of their hearts, rather than 
upon their mere utterances. And then, after utter- 
ing His peculiar and awful condemnation on the sin 
against the Holy Spirit, He expressly connects the 
words of the mouth with the disposition of the heart, 
before declaring that by our words we shall be justi- 
fied and by our words we shall be condemned. 

A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringetli 
forth good things : and an evil man out of the evil treasure 
bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every 
idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account 
thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou 
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 
(Matt. 12 : 35-37.) 

In their opposition toward Him, in their rejection of 
His testimony, in the blasphemous measures by which 
they sought to overthrow His claims to the Messiah- 
ship, in the desperate fetch made for an argument 
against Him by maligning and misrepresenting the 
very works in w T hich they gloried, and on which they 
founded the credit of their own order; — by these 
things, did those Pharisees evince an inflexible de- 
termination against the authority of conscience — a 
wilful darkening of their own hearts against the 
light and power of evidence — an obstinate resistance 
to everything that would demonstrate their own 


A SIN AGAINST CULMINATING LIGHT 38 1 


guiltiness. Underlying all this, our Lord saw that 
deliberate and settled purpose of rebellion, which con- 
stitutes the chief ingredient in the malignancy of the 
sin against the Holy Ghost. 


A SIN AGAINST CULMINATING LIGHT 

The light was culminating, and the evidences were 
being multiplied in proof that Christ possessed a 
character which signalized Him above the mere chil- 
dren of men, and which justified Him in His claim 
to be the Son of God. He declares that if He had 
offered no other testimony than His own, they had 
not had sin. If He had not done among them the 
works which no other man did, they had still been 
guiltless. But now they had both seen and hated 
both the Son and the Father. There was but one 
further testimony to be given — that of the Holy Ghost 
— the same Spirit by whose power the miracle had 
just been “wrought which they so blasphemously 
maligned. Hitherto their opposition to Jesus of 
Nazareth had been opposition to One whom they con- 
sidered as a fellow man. But the decisive evidence 
of His Divinity was now being furnished them, and 
In their rejection of all the accumulating evidence, 
they smothered the instigations of conscience, and so 
outraged every moral impulse and sensibility within 
them, that their very hearts became like adamant. 
What formerly was no greater sin than speaking 
against a fellow man, now became blasphemy against 
the Son of God. 

This, however, was a pardonable offense. One step 
more was required to place them beyond the reach 


382 BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 


of mercy. They had sinned against the Father and 
the Son — they had now only to sin against the Holy 
Ghost, at His coming and manifestation as the last 
and greatest vindication of the Son of God, and their 
doom would be irrevocably fixed, their eternal damna- 
tion insured. They were already on the borders of 
that dispensation in which the Holy Ghost would 
add His testimony to all the other evidences that had 
been given to authenticate the commission and Per- 
son of Jesus Christ; and in which deliberate and 
persistent rejection of light and evidence would be 
a sinning against the Holy Ghost, the final result of 
which would be to render repentance impossible, and 
so to erect an impassable barrier in the way of Di- 
vine forgiveness. 

The same purpose of heart which Jesus perceived 
to be the source of their blasphemous utterances 
against Himself, would, in all probability, incline 
them to reject the whole work and testimony of the 
Holy Spirit, when He should be sent into the world. 
This would be a culmination of wickedness which, 
to the men of previous ages, had not been possible; 
and which, in its malignity, could never be exceeded. 


A SIN BELONGING TO THE DISPENSATION OP THE SPIRIT 

Taking this view of our Savior’s language on this 
important subject leads to the conclusion that the 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is a sin which be- 
longs exclusively to the dispensation of the Holy 
Ghost ; or, which it was not possible for men to com- 
mit until the Spirit of God, in His personal mani- 
festation, and in His threefold ministry of conviction, 


BELONGING TO THE DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT 383 

was given to the world. “If I depart,” said Jesus, “I 
will send the Comforter unto you, and when He is 
come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of right- 
eousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they be- 
lieve not on Me ; of righteousness, because I go to My 
Father, and ye see Me no more ; of judgment, because 
the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:7-11). 
The deliberate and final rejection of the Divine Spirit 
in these offices of conviction, constitutes final impeni- 
tence, and erects an impassable barrier in the way 
of the sinner’s pardon. This is “doing despite unto 
the Spirit of grace.” This is a sin of the greatest 
enormity. Compared with this, the sin of the ante- 
diluvians, or of the Sodomites, or of the men of Nine- 
veh, was venial. 

In no preceding dispensation was it possible for 
men to manifest such a degree of malignity toward 
God, and of antagonism to the principle of His gov- 
ernment, as is evinced by those who deliberately and 
persistently reject and despise the light and grace 
which are bestowed under the dispensation of the 
Holy Spirit. For in no preceding age had God made 
so full a revelation of Himself and of His righteous 
and beneficent designs, as He has manifested under 
the present economy. And men are guilty before 
God in proportion to the light they have despised 
and the knowledge against which they have trans- 
gressed. 

In the dispensation of the Father, only the twilight 
of truth had dawned upon the world. In the dispensa- 
tion of the Son, the twilight had vanished, and “the 
true Light”—' “the Sun of Righteousness”— had risen, 
dispersing His beams across the horizon of our world. 


384 blasphemy against the holy spirit 

In the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, the risen “Sun 
of Righteousness” has reached the meridian of per- 
fect day, and, from the zenith, pours down His full- 
orbed brightness upon the sons of men. They who 
sinned against the light of other dispensations were 
comparatively innocent, or excusable, since the light 
which shone upon them was but dim and partial. 
But they who sin against the light of the Holy 
Spirit’s dispensation, sin against meridian light — 
despise the fullest and the last revelation of truth 
and grace God will ever bestow upon the race in its 
probationary history. 

It is true that there were sins of presumption under 
the earlier economies, which were of a kindred nature 
with what is now termed the “blasphemy against the 
Holy Ghost,” and which called forth the swift judg- 
ment of the Almighty upon their perpetrators. But 
may we not believe that, although those presumptu- 
ous and hardened offenders were punished with physi- 
cal death, Divine mercy was extended to their souls ? 
Did not the Lord, through His servant Noah, in ante- 
diluvian times, visit “the spirits in prison” 
and “preach the Gospel to them that were dead, 
that they might be judged according to men in 
the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit?” 
Compare 1 Pet. 4 : 5, 6, with 3 : 18-20. St. Paul de- 
clares, in reference to those who sinned against the 
light of former dispensations : “The times of this ig- 
norance God winked at [“overlooked,” in the Revised 
Version], but now commandeth all men everywhere 
to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the 
which He will judge the world in righteousness by 
that Man whom He hath ordained ; whereof He hath 


NATURE OF THE SIN IN QUESTION 385 

given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised 
Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30, 31). 

There can be no questioning as to the possibility of 
committing the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, 
under the present economy. We are living amid the 
culminating light and glory of the Spirit’s dispensa- 
tion. Those who sin amid that light, sin deliberately, 
and prove that “their heart is fully set in them to do 
evil.” The sin of the world to-day is the sin of 
despising the Holy Ghost; it is a wilful, persistent 
rejection of the testimony He bears concerning Christ 
— a determined stifling of that conviction of sin, 
righteousness, and judgment, which He works in the 
hearts of men. It is not only possible for men at the 
present day to commit that sin against the Spirit of 
God for which there can be no pardon, but there is 
great danger of their doing so. Every resistance of 
His gracious influences and Divine drawings, every 
refusal of His light, every rejection of His testimony, 
every wilful transgression of the Law of God which 
He inspired, and which He now writes upon the 
hearts of all who will receive His gracious ministry, 
is a step toward that final rejection of the Holy 
Ghost, which an infinitely compassionate God can 
never pardon. 


NATURE OF THE SIN IN QUESTION MORE FULLY 
CONSIDERED 

The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost does not 
consist in some isolated and independent act of trans- 
gression, nor in some awful and irrevocable deed the 


386 BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 

nature of which is involved in obscurity, and which 
men whose consciences are awakened sometimes fear 
they have unwittingly committed. It is important 
that this point be clearly understood. Many an 
honest and bewildered inquirer has sunk into a state 
of melancholy bordering on despair, at the sugges- 
tion, from the adversary of souls, that the unpardon- 
able sin has been committed ; but whose fears would 
be quickly dissipated could he get a correct appre- 
hension of what that sin is, and how it is generally 
manifested. 

Nor does the sin in question consist in some atro- 
cious deed committed under a strong and sudden im- 
pulse of temptation, and which the memory of the 
awakened sinner recalls from the long list of his 
past transgressions. For, however long and dark 
that catalog may be, it contains not the record of 
a single transgression which may not be forgiven, 
according to the very Scripture we are considering. 
“Wherefore I say unto you all manner of sin and 
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but the blas- 
phemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven 
unto them.” 

A CULMINATING TRANSGRESSION 

The sin which our Lord has characterized as the 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, is rather the 
culminating act in a series of deliberate transgres- 
sions, rashly persisted in, against the light, convic- 
tion, and gracious influences of the Spirit of God. 
It is the final link in a long chain of malignant and 
rebellious acts against the Holy Spirit — the com- 


A CULMINATING TRANSGRESSION 387 

pletion of that work of rejecting His light and convic- 
tion, whereby the soul binds itself in chains of dark- 
ness unto the judgment of the great day. The cul- 
minating act which constitutes the unpardonable sin 
is generally reached by “the oft-repeated answering 
of ‘No, no, no/ to the Holy Spirit”* in His urgent 
promptings and solicitations to reconciliation with 
God. By their long-continued rejection of His testi- 
mony, their daring and obstinate rebellion against 
His gracious influences, their deliberate and persis- 
tent repelling of His repeated calls to penitence, the 
steeling of their hearts against all His tender and 
beseeching entreaties; by these acts do men reach 
and pass that hidden boundary beyond which the 
pardoning mercy of God can never reach them. And 
in almost every assembly where the Gospel is 
preached men may be found who are thus “doing 
despite unto the Spirit of grace;” who are about to 
cross 

“The hidden boundary between 

God’s patience and His wrath.” 

By this determined rebellion the obstinate sinner 
is borne on, until, at last, the point is reached where 
conscience is stifled, and ceases to perform its func- 
tions; where the Holy Spirit, too long insulted, lays 
down His work of prompting that inward monitor, 
and leaves the wilful transgressor in a state of moral 
insensibility and darkness; and where, “while the 
compassionate voice of a beseeching God is still 
sounded in his ear, it is powerless to affect his cal- 
loused heart, or to penetrate the barriers which in 
his deliberate folly he has formed around it.”f 

♦Rev. A. B. Earle in “Bringing in Sheaves.” tUr. Chalmers. 


388 BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 


A STATE OP SIN — MORAL SUICIDE 

Concerning the nature of the sin against the Holy 
Ghost, Dean Alford says : 

The principal misunderstanding of this passage has arisen 
from the prejudice which possesses men’s minds owing to 
the use of the words “the sin against the Holy Ghost.” It is 
not one particular act of sin which is here condemned, but 
a state of sin, and that state a wilful and determined opposi- 
tion to the present power of the Holy Spirit. 

Dr. Lange, in his comprehensive commentary, 
speaks on the same point as follows : 

The Holy Spirit, who is here spoken of in distinct terms, 
is the last and highest manifestation of the Spirit of God, 
who completes and perfects the revelation of God, and in 
that capacity manifests Himself in the human consciousness. 
Blasphemously to rebel in opposition to one’s better knowl- 
edge and conscience against this manifestation and influence 
of the Holy Spirit, is to commit moral suicide, to destroy 
one’s religious and moral susceptibility. 

MANIFESTED BY INDIFFERENCE AND INSENSIBILITY 

In view of the foregoing definitions we can readily 
see, that it is not in those who are distressed with 
an overwhelming sense of its enormity, and who sor- 
row on the verge of despair at thinking they may have 
committed it, that we are to look for the sin against 
the Holy Ghost. We may expect rather to find it 
among those busy multitudes who seem to have no 
thought or care in reference to their eternal destiny ; 
who are so immersed in the secularities of life, or in- 
fatuated with the pleasures and vanities of the world, 
that their ears are constantly deaf to every voice that 
invites them to reconciliation with God. It is among 


MANIFESTED BY INDIFFERENCE 


389 


these classes that we shall find the men whose hearts 
seem steeled against every impression designed to 
produce repentance ; whose wills are fully set in re- 
bellion against God ; and “who present an iron front 
of indifference and insensibility amid the appalling 
judgments which are ever flying about them.” These 
are the men who “do always resist the Holy Ghost,” 
and who, in their self-complacency and pride, “tram- 
ple under foot the Son of God,” and rush deliberately 
and swiftly on toward ruin, regardless of every warn- 
ing and entreaty to turn from their downward course. 
Among such as these, rather than among those who 
stand in horror lest their iniquity should be found 
unpardonable, shall we find those who “have done 
despite unto the Spirit of grace.” 

Says Dr. Chalmers: 

The sin against the Holy Ghost, so far from conferring 
any rare distinction of wickedness on him who is guilty 
of it, is, in fact, the sin of all who, living under the dispensa- 
tion of the Gospel, have by their rejection of it, made it “the 
savor of death unto death.” It is a sin which, if on the 
great day of examination you are found to be free from, will 
argue your acceptance of the Gospel, in virtue of which its 
forgiveness is made sure to you. And it is a sin which, if 
found to adhere to you on that day, will argue your final 
refusal of this same Gospel, in virtue of which your forgive- 
ness is impossible — because you are out of the only way 
under heaven whereby men can be saved. So that this sin, 
looked upon by many as the sin of one particular age, or, 
if possible to realize in the present day, as only to be met 
with in a few solitary instances of enormous and unex- 
piable transgression, is the very sin upon which may be 
made to turn the condemnation and ruin of the existing 
majority of our species.* 

*Sermon on “The Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost." 

26 


390 blasphemy against the holy spirit 

WHY UNPARDONABLE 

The sin against the Holy Ghost is unpardonable, 
not because the charter of Divine mercy is insufficient 
in its amplitude for the remission of every sin — not 
because of any limitation in the Atonement made for 
sin — but because the only Agent of reconciliation is 
despised; the only ground and condition of pardon 
ignored ; and, by his repeated acts of resistance and 
rejection, the sinner reaches that state of permanent 
moral insensibility which renders him utterly incap- 
able of that repentance and faith which are the condi- 
tions of pardon and reconciliation. It is a law of 
nature that persistent neglect or abuse of any faculty 
will, sooner or later, destroy its capability for exer- 
cise. This is true of the physical and of the intel- 
lectual powers. Disuse, in respect to either of these, 
results in degeneration. The same is true also of 
the moral faculties. By the continued neglect of our 
moral powers, or by doing repeated violence to them, 
we may so benumb and harden them, we may render 
them so dead , to use a scriptural term, that repen- 
tance and faith are absolutely impossible. By the 
process of repeated resistance to the light and gra- 
cious influences of the Holy Spirit, every Godward 
aspiration of the soul is finally extinguished; every 
inlet that was open to heavenly influences choked 
and closed; and every talent for religious devotion, 
love, and trust, utterly destroyed. 

In their hardness and impenitency, men “despise 
the riches of God’s goodness, and forbearance, and 
longsuffering,” thereby “treasuring unto themselves 
wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation 


HOW THE CRISIS IS REACHED 


391 


of the righteous judgment of God.” And as that 
awful crisis is approached, in which their blas- 
phemous rejection of the Holy Ghost will have 
reached its culmination, they become more and more 
insensible to all gracious influences, and less and less 
apprehensive of their impending doom. 

Oh, if their rocky hearts could only feel; if their blinded 
eyes could only see; if the deep of their spirits could be 
stirred ; and if repentant tears could flow ; then there would 
be hope! But as salvation from sin is conditioned upon re- 
pentance and faith, and as these, in view of the abandoned 
condition of the sinner, can not be exercised, there is, conse- 
quently, no forgiveness.* 

Deliberate, malignant, and continued rejection of 
the blessed Holy Spirit, is the sure way to that crisis 
in which a final decision is rendered against that 
Messenger of reconciliation, and in the rendering of 
which the soul commits “the blasphemy against the 
Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven, neither in 
this world, neither in the world to come.” 


HOW THE CRISIS IS REACHED 

This state is usually reached through a protracted 
series of resistances against the drawing and im- 
pulses of the Spirit, as we have already seen. In this 
persistent grieving of the Holy Comforter, the doomed 
man passes unconsciously or indifferently from one 
degree of sinfulness and impenitency to another, un- 
til that moral boundary is passed, beyond which re- 
pentance is impossible. That he is unconscious of his 
danger is the darkest feature of his case. Were there 

♦“Mission of the Spirit,” by Dunn. 


39 2 


BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 


distress or uneasiness there would be ground for 
hope. Were there a something within or about the 
soul that was not insensible like all the rest; were 
there a contending force anywhere; and, would he 
allow that to operate instead of doing it violence, it 
would gather strength continually, and wake up, one 
by one, each torpid and dishonored faculty, till his 
whole being would be quickened into strivings against 
self, and every avenue of his soul would be opened 
wide to the light and presence of God. But, alas ! the 
apathy, the numbness of the soul, the cessation of 
all distress and uneasiness! What are these but 
symptoms that the death of the soul is already begun, 
and that its consummation is surely approaching? 

In certain accidents the victims realize no pain. 
Because painless they insist that their case can not 
be serious; while to others it is evident that they 
are already dying. The surgeon at their side knows 
that the numbness of their frame is an infallible evi- 
dence that certain parts of the body have already lost 
all capacity for life. 

Nor is it the least tragic accompaniment of this process 
that its effects may be concealed from others. The soul 
undergoing degeneration, surely by some arrangement with 
temptation planned in the uttermost hell, possesses the 
power of absolute secrecy. When all within is festering 
and decay and rottenness, a Judas, without anomaly, may 
kiss his Lord. The invisible consumption, like its fell ana- 
logue in the natural world, may even keep its victim beau- 
tiful while slaying it.* 

When such a person awakes at last to the fact that 
he is for ever lost, the saddest reflection will be “I 
am not only lost, but am self-destroyed!” 

•Prof. Drummond on “Degeneration.” 


NOT EVIDENCED BY VISIBLE TOKENS 


393 


NOT EVIDENCED BY VISIBLE TOKENS 

The unpardonable sin is not generally manifested 
in those who have committed it by such external signs 
as enable others to detect it with any degree of cer- 
tainty. The boundary between God’s mercy and His 
wrath is hidden from the sight of men. The tokens of 
perdition may be apparent in certain cases, still, no 
finite being can tell precisely how or when the crisis 
is reached by which the unpardonable sin is com- 
mitted. We may be seized w T ith trembling, and filled 
with awful fear, as we behold what seem to be evident 
tokens of final impenitence, in certain persons of our 
acquaintance, but we can not say with certainty that 
pardon and hope have forever departed from them. 
“God does not place the flaming seal of His con- 
demnation upon the brow of the doomed man so 
visibly in this world that mortal eyes can clearly 
discern it.” Whatever horror may be produced within 
us by the blasphemous words and actions of a fellow 
man, we have no right or authority to say of such a 
one, “He is committing, or is about to commit, the sin 
against the Holy Ghost.” Our very vitals may chill 
with horror as we think of the fearful possibility in 
the case ; yet we know not what expedients God has 
already tried, or may still try, to bring the blas- 
phemer to repentance ; therefore we can not with cer- 
tainty declare his sin to be unpardonable. The jovial, 
witty, and refined mocker; the courteous, harmless, 
church-going neglecter of salvation; or the sancti- 
monious, but haughty, blind, and self-deceived Phari- 
see to be found in almost every religious assembly; 
may be nearer perdition’s brink than the openly pro- 


394 BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 

fane man, or the persecutor of the good. We should, 
therefore, be careful in the matter of judging, and 
content ourselves with constant and faithful warn- 
ing. 

Some who have gone so far in blasphemous oppo- 
sition to Christianity that all hope of their recovery 
seemed lost, have, nevertheless, been won to the 
Savior, and become excellent and useful Christians. 
Colonel Gardiner’s case is an illustration of this. 
And many similar ones might be given. “No one 
knows the number of God’s appeals, a reason why we 
should have salutary fear for ourselves, and always 
hope for others.” 


THE DOOMED MAN GENERALLY UNCONSCIOUS OF HIS 
STATE 

Nor does the sin against the Holy Ghost generally 
manifest itself in such a way as to render him who 
is guilty of it conscious of his abandoned and hope- 
less state. There have been instances in which per- 
sons have been conscious of resisting the last call of 
mercy, and of “doing despite unto the Spirit of 
grace.” They knew the very moment when they 
were abandoned of the Holy Spirit. They never felt 
His strivings more. Nor did they fear, nor could they 
feel. They lived and died impenitent and hopeless. 
They knew their doom was sealed for years before 
death called them to the eternal state. In rare instan- 
ces the unpardonable sin may be manifested in this 
way. As a general rule, however, the line of destiny 
is reached and crossed unconsciously. The man upon 
whose soul eternal doom is written goes smilingly, 


DOOMED MAN UNCONSCIOUS OF HIS STATE 


carelessly, thoughtlessly on, and flatters himself that 
because he knows no fear, and realizes none of the 
keen anguish of conviction, he is a highly favored 
man. Perhaps he even deceives himself into the be- 
lief that he will finally be among the saved. But, 
alas ! he has crossed the fatal line. The Spirit of God 
has left him to himself. He is securely bound over to 
the second death in a chain of his own forging. 
Abandoned of God, the ever-deepening darkness of an 
endless night is already gathering about his deathless 
soul, and devils from the grim caverns of woe are 
waiting to make him their prey, and to hold jubilee 
over his final damnation. 

These things are not said to alarm those 
anxious, timorous souls, who, crushed under the sense 
and weight of their sinfulness, are betimes “the vic- 
tims of threatening possessions and torturing dis- 
quietudes.” The fears of such persons should be 
soothed rather than excited. Those who have every 
reason to hope, and to comfort themselves with the 
assurance that they may be freely and fully par- 
doned, are often ill at ease; while those who should 
be disquieted and alarmed, comfort themselves to 
their own danger. Those who are truly concerned 
and troubled about their sinful condition , thereby 
give infallible evidence that theirs is not the un- 
pardonable sin. For an invariable manifestation or 
result of the sin against the Holy Ghost, is the utter 
absence of trouble, concern, or fear in regard to it. 
The very facts that a sinner is anxious about the 
salvation of his soul ; that he is filled with fear and 
with trembling apprehension of a coming judgment ; 
that he desires to know the pardoning favor of God ; 


396 BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 

that he regards a personal assurance of salvation as 
the most desirable object to be obtained; — these all 
are so many evidences that, if he will but believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ, “He will abundantly pardon.” 


THE SEAL OF DOOM SOMETIMES ALMOST VISIBLE 

The ordinary way in which the sin against the 
Holy Ghost is manifest in those who have committed 
it, as we have already seen, is by apathy in reference 
to religious matters, indifference to the things of 
eternity, and the absence of all feeling, all fear, all 
trouble, and all anxiety in regard to the soul’s final 
destiny. In certain instances, however, the culminat- 
ing act of rebellion against the Holy Spirit is of so 
malignant, blasphemous, and shocking a character, as 
to strike deepest terror to the hearts of the beholders, 
and as to leave the seal of endless doom almost visibly 
stamped upon the deliberate transgressor’s brow. 

During an extensive revival in an American college some 
years ago a company of students met, and, as if led on by 
Satan himself, pierced veins in each other’s arms, mingled 
their blood, and with it signed a formal resolve that they 
would resist forever God’s Spirit and the religion of Christ. 
Their convictions ceased, though the religious interest for a 
time continued. Not one of the number referred to was 
converted. Subsequently one by one they died in despair 
with the gloom of future and eternal ruin hanging over 
them. The crime of these young men was probably blas- 
phemy against the Holy Ghost. They sinned knowingly — 
despised the evidences of truth knowingly. It was malice 
prepense. They made their own record, took great pains to 
make a sure record, and in this they approached the awful 
point of departure.* 


♦“Credo,” p. 386. 


FINAL APPEAL 


397 


FINAL APPEAL 

Before dismissing this subject let me earnestly and 
affectionately entreat you, dear hearer, if you are not 
at peace with God, and if you still have one faint 
desire to become a Christian, or feel in the slightest 
degree the striving of the Holy Spirit, to cherish it as 
you would cherish the last glimmering ray of light and 
hope for eternity. Grieve the Spirit of God no longer, 
I beseech you, lest He turn away from you to return 
no more. Make haste to be reconciled to God. “Be- 
hold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day 
of salvation.’’ To-morrow may be too late. Perhaps 
at this very hour the Spirit of God is holding His 
last interview with your soul, and urging His last 
entreaty to reconciliation with God. From this very 
hour may date the salvation or damnation of your 
soul. From this hour may date the beginning of re- 
pentance, or the sealing of irrevocable doom ; the first 
step under the guidance of the Spirit, or the last in 
that resistance to His gracious calls and influences, 
which constitutes the sin against the Holy Ghost. 

The Rev. A. B. Earle relates an incident of a man 
who entered a dark, winding cave, carrying with him 
a lamp and a ball of twine. That he might be able 
to find his way out of the cave, in case his light 
should go out, he secured one end of the twine outside 
the entrance, and then unwound the ball as he en- 
tered. In this manner he proceeded until he had 
gone far into the dark and winding recesses, some- 
times climbing over rugged rocks, and then descend- 
ing into low, damp passages. At last he entered into 
a large and spacious apartment, containing rare and 


39& BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT 

beautiful curiosities. Desirous of bringing from the 
cave some of its rich treasures, he set down his lamp, 
and placed the ball of twine beside it — only for a 
moment ! 

While breaking off a stalactite of rare and peculiar 
beauty, his lamp was overturned, in some way, and 
went out. Supposing he could easily find his lamp 
and the ball of twine, he commenced feeling about for 
it in the darkness of the cave. But his efforts were 
in vain. No human ear was there to hear his cries 
for help, as he crept about, first in one direction and 
then in another, in search of that thread on which his 
hope of life depended. Could he but grasp again 
that slender thread, it would lead him back to the 
sunlight — never before so dear. 

Long, weary days and nights were spent in search- 
ing for that only means of escape — that only ray of 
hope ; but all without avail. He was never again to 
behold the light of the sun, or to look upon the faces 
of his loved ones at home. His lifeless body was 
found in that dark and silent cavern a long time 
afterwards. What sad and bitter reflections must he 
have had while starving and dying in the darkness 
of the cave ! What would he not have given, could he 
have grasped that thread once more in his trembling 
fingers? But his light once out, his fate was sealed 
— he must languish and die. 

Even so, dear reader, the drawing of the Holy 
Spirit which you have so often felt, and, I trust, feel 
even now, is the thread on which your eternal salva- 
tion depends. When that silken thread is lost, all 
hope of heaven is lost. Without that heavenly Guide 
to lead you into light, you will be left to wander in 


FINAL APPEAL 


399 


“the blackness of darkness forever.” Cherish, then, I 
entreat you, the presence and drawing of the Spirit of 
God ; lest, too oft resisted and too long despised, He 
take His everlasting flight. Then will all hope of 
heaven be blotted out; and then to all eternity will 
your bitter lamentation be : “The harvest is past, the 
summer is ended, and I am not saved.” 




















. 


















• 










































INDEX 


Alford, Dean, sin against the 
Holy Spirit, 388 

Alps, sunshine on, illustration, 132 

Angus, revelation progressive, 54; 
the Holy Spirit and the Scrip- 
tures are in agreement, 208, 209 

Apostasy, Comforter a safeguard 
from, 139, 140 

Appeal, final, of author, 397-399 

Arianism, 368 

Armageddon, near, 13; preparation 
for, 13-15 

Assurance by the Holy Spirit, of 
pardon, 255; of sanctification, 
277 

Atonement, efficacy revealed by 
the Holy Spirit, 123; need re- 
vealed, 157-159 

Augustine, imputed righteousness, 
170 

Baptism in name of Trinity, 22, 23 

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, 

30; Scripture statements, 377; 
defined, 378, 385; sin against 

great light, 381; belonging to 
the dispensation of the Holy 
Spirit, 382; culminating trans- 
gression, 386; manifestations of, 
388, 389, 393; unpardonable, 390; 
how reached, 391; guilty some- 
times unconscious of their sin, 
394; seal of doom sometimes 
visible, 396 

Bowen, Dr., gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, 326 

Bradford, A. H., the life makes 
the Christian, 7 ; spiritual rela- 
tion, 8 

Bushnell, Horace, empowered by 
the Holy Spirit, 314 

Calvin, John, of humble origin, 305 

Caughey, James, baptized of the 
Holy Spirit, 313 

Chalmers, Dr., blasphemy against 
the Holy Spirit, 389 

Christlieb, Professor, miracles and 
missions, 348, 363; continuance 
of miracles, 354; miracles not 
abnormal, 360 

Chrysostom, Christ’s righteousness, 

170 

Church, success, 72; needs the 
Holy Spirit, 137, 299; glorified 

401 


with Christ, 239; what it is, 
282; origin, 283; life of, 284; 
head of, 285; signs of decline, 
358, 359 

Clark, Dougan, gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, 286; denominational 
union not essential, 297-299 
Clarke, Adam, Pentecost, 75; 
righteousness, 171; grieving the 
Holy Spirit, 373 

Comforter, the Holy Spirit, 99; 
Paraclete, 100, 101; better than 
bodily presence of Jesus, 103- 
106; in convicting of sin, 159, 
160; in convicting of righteous- 
ness, 175-178; in convicting of 
judgment, 199; of believers, 204; 
respecting the future, 224-229 
Conscience, inadequacy of, 156 
Consecration, urged by the Holy 
Spirit, 273-275 

Conviction, of sin by the Holy 
Spirit, 143, 156, 159, 160; of per- 
sonal sinfulness, 154, 155; of 

righteousness, 161; of sin and 
of righteousness felated, 175- 
178; conviction of sin precedes 
experience of righteousness, 178; 
of judgment, 1S2; leaves men 
without excuse, 193; effects 
produced by, 195; instrumental- 
ities of, 200; work of ages, 202; 
of need of holiness, 268 
Creation, by the Holy Spirit, 23 
Cullis, Charles, divine healing, 356 

Davis, Jefferson, illustration, 189 
Deity of the Holy Spirit, 26-32 
Denominations, merging of not fa- 
vored, 296 

Dispensation, of the Father, 56; 
of the Son, 58; of the Holy 
Spirit, 60; culmination of light, 
65; principle common to the dis- 
pensations, 64 

Drummond, Professor, on degen- 
eration, 392 

Dunn, on the possibility of being 
sanctified, 270; on the unpardon- 
able sin, 379, 391 

Earle, A. B., cites illustration, 397 
Eddyism, false doctrine, 291 
Elohim, Hebrew term for God, 37 
Emblems of the Holy Spirit, 40; 


402 


INDEX 


water, 41; wind, 43; fire, 45; oil, 
46; the dove, 48; seal, 49; cloven 
tongues, 50 

Faith, in regeneration, 254; in en- 
tire sanctification, 275 
False doctrines, avoided by aid of 
the Holy Spirit, 291 
Fanaticism, source of, 209 
Father, relation of, 4 
Fenelon, Archbishop, on inspira- 
tion to holy living, 215 
Field, on the new birth, 250; on 
concomitants of regeneration, 
255; on Arianism, 368 
Finney, President, on ministerial 
efficiency, 314 

Fire, symbol of the Holy Spirit, 45 
Fletcher, John, on the Spirit and 
the Word, 46; on the three eras 
of spiritual life, 55; on error in 
doctrine and sincere heart, 57 ; 
on doubts dissipated, 58; on the 
kingdom of the Holy Ghost, 60; 
on gifts of the Spirit, 128, 129 
Force, the Holy Spirit not a 
mere, 4 

Free Spirit, the Holy Spirit named, 
36 

Future, problems of, solved by the 
Holy Spirit, 224 

Gentiles, calling of, 187 
Gifts of the Holy Spirit, 289, 321; 
wisdom, 327; knowledge, 329; 
faith, 330; healing, 330; mira- 
cles, 332; prophecy, 333; dis- 
cerning of spirits, 334; tongues, 
335; permanency of, 338; in the 
early church, 351; and revivals, 
356; needful in all ages, 357 
Gnosticism, false doctrine, 291 
Good Spirit, name given to the 
Holy Spirit, 36 

Gordon, A. J., on permanency of 
spiritual gifts, 339, 343; on mira- 
cles, 346 

Gospel, energy through the Holy 
Spirit, 240 

Gregg, D., on regeneration, 246 
Growth in grace, promoted by the 
Holy Spirit, 271 

Guidance, by the Holy Spirit, 213- 
216 


Hannah, definition of regeneration, 
246 

Hare, Archdeacon, on the mission 
of the Comforter, 180, 195 
Healing, gift of, 330; divine, 345, 
348; instances of, 348-351 
Higher criticism, false, 391 
Hodge, C. A., on regeneration, 246 
Holiness, by the Holy Spirit, 133, 
222, 264 


Holy Spirit, doctrine of, im- 
portance, 3; fundamental to 
Christianity, 6; carries forward 
Christ’s work, 8, 21; not an im- 
personal influence, 11; his work 
underestimated, 12; associated 
with the Father and the Son, 18; 
manifested, 23; in creation, 23; 
deity of, 26; personality, 16, 24; 
attributes of, 28; acts of, 29; 
equality with the Father and 
the Son, 29; the church’s heri- 
tage, 69; an abiding gift, 97; 
the Sanctifier, 104; reveals 
Christ, lu9, 234; reveals spiri- 
tual things, 112, 118; interprets 
the Scriptures, 114; interprets 
God’s providence, 123; assures 
of immortality, 125; earnest of 
the heavenly inheritance, 126; 
quickens the intellect, 130; calls 
to remembrance, 211, 212; safe- 
guards from apostasy, 139; con- 
victs of sin, 143; convicts of 
righteousness, 161, 164; convicts 
of judgment, 182; in harmony 
with tne Scriptures, 206; exalts 
Christ, 106, 230; regenerates, 

251; assures of regeneration, 255; 
convicts of need of holiness, 268; 
urges to consecration, 273-275; 
sanctifies, 264; author of faith 
which sanctifies, 275; assures of 
sanctification, 277; life of the 
church, 284; gifts of, 289, 324; 
appoints to various ministries, 
290; guards against false doc- 
trine, 291; unifies the church, 
294; directs efforts in the minis- 
try, 316; gives boldness to min- 
istry, 318; dishonored, 364-371; 
quenched, 374; vexed, 376; blas- 
phemy against, 377-399 
Hume, on miracles, 362 

Idolatry, tendency to, 10 
Inspiration, the Scriptures and the 
Holy Spirit, 20; of the under- 
standing and memory, 211 
Irenaeus, on miracles, 353 
Irving, Edward, on miracles, 346 
Isaac, bride for, illustration, 235 

Jesus, anointed with the Holy 
Spirit, 68; glorified with His 
church, 239 

Judd, Carrie (Mrs. Montgomery), 
divine healing, 356 
Judgment, conviction of, 182, 184; 
of Satan, 185, 190; of the world, 
188; related to the death and 
resurrection of Christ, 191; gen- 
eral, 196-198; world’s theory of, 
198 

Judson, Adoniram, miracles, 363 


INDEX 


403 


Knox, John, on prayer, 134 

Lange, Dr., on blasphemy against 
the Holy Spirit, 388 
Lightfoot, Dr., on Christ’s right- 
eousness, 170 

Lincoln, Abraham, illustration, 189 
Love, kinds of, 260, 261; perfect, 
reign of, 61 

Luther, on prayer, 134; on Christ’s 
righteousness, 170; humble ori- 
gin of, 305 

Martyr, Justin, on gift of healing, 
352 

Melancthon, humble of origin, 305 
Ministry, Christian, importance of, 
301; success in, 302; call to, 303; 
call recognized by church, 304; 
needs spiritual illumination, 307 ; 
needs spiritual power, 312; bold- 
ness of the Holy Spirit, 318; dis- 
honoring the Holy Spirit, 371 
Miracles, decline of, 355; nature 
of, 360 

Moody, D. L., on baptism of the 
Holy Spirit, 313 
Moral Law, insufficient, 156 
Mormonism, false doctrine, 291 
Mosheim, on spiritual gifts, 353 
Muller, George, gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, 357 

Natural religion, insufficient, 166 

Oil, symbol of the Holy Spirit, 46 
Old Testament, recognition of 
work of the Holy Spirit, 67 
Origen, on miracles, 353 
Owen, Dr., doctrine of the Holy 
Spirit, 22, 64, 236, 241 

Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, 100; 
two Paracletes, 101; exalts 
Christ, 106; completes the work 
of redemption, 237 
Parker, Dr., on coming of the 
Holy Spirit, 5; suddenness of the 
Spirit’s coming, 86; tongues, 
95, 96; spiritual illumination, 

115; conviction, 202; glorifying 
Christ, 230-232 

Pentecost, 71; occasion, 74; prep- 
aration for, 79;- miracles, 85; 
sound from heaven, 85 ; fiery 
tongues, 92; birthday of Chris- 
tian church, 284 

Personality of the Holy Spirit, 16, 
24, 105 

Philosophy, failure of, 165 
Power, through the Holy Spirit, 
127, 133, 311; in prayer, 134; in 
preaching, 136 

Prayer, and the Holy Spirit, 134 


Prime, Dr., tarrying, illustration, 

138 

Providence and the Holy Spirit, 19 

Rain, symbol of the Holy Spirit, 
42 

Reconciliation through the Son, .58 
Regeneration, nature, 243; Wesley 
quoted, 245; Watson, 246; neces- 
sity for, 247-251; agency in, 251; 
means used, 253; faith, 254; con- 
comitants of, 255; assurance of, 
255; is partial sanctification, 262 
Rejecting Christ, sin of, 149 
Repentance, precedes assurance, 
258 

Revelation, progressive, 53; spiri- 
tual truth, 112, 118, 150 
Righteousness, God’s standard of, 
161; conviction for, 161, 164; 

world’s idea of, 162; of God, 
169; views regarding, 170, 171; 
Christ’s claim disputed, 173 
Roberts, B. T., on spiritual illu- 
mination, 309; on guidance, 316 
Russellism, false doctrine, 291 

Sanctification, begun in regenera- 
tion, 266; defined, 267; possible, 
270; by faith, 275; things sanc- 
tification will not do, 278; fruit 
of, 280 

Sanctifier, the Holy Spirit, 104, 
111, 264 

Satanic assault, object of, 9 
Seal, symbol of the Holy Spirit, 49 
Simpson, A. B., gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, 356 

Sin, nature revealed, 143; distinc- 
tions in, 144; of unbelief, 145; 
rejecting Christ, 149; personal 
sin exposed, 154 
Socinians, 368 

Son, relation to the Father, 4; re- 
vealing the Father, 5 
Spiritism, false doctrine, 291 
Spurgeon, C. II., on need of the 
Holy Spirit, 312 

Stanley, Dean, on the dispensa- 
tions, 6 

Steele, Dr., on dispensation of the 
Son, 59; dispensation of the Holy 
Spirit, 63; power of truth, 320 
Stokes, G. T., on tongue of fire, 93 
Summerfield, testimony, 244 

Taylor, Jeremy, illumination of 
the Scriptures by the Holy 
Spirit, 213, 222; missing the 

truth, 220 

Taylor, William, gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, 363 

Themistocles at Salamis, illustra- 
tion, 138 

Titles borne by the Holy Spirit, 33 


404 


INDEX 


Tongues, as of fire, 50, 93; speak- 
ing with, 94, 335, 336 
Truth, power of, 135; Spirit of 
Truth, 216; I'esponsibility re- 
specting, 220; its end, perfec- 
tion in holiness, 221 

Unbelief, sin of, 145-149; the soul- 
damning sin, 152, 153 
Unpardonable sin, 378, 390 

Water, symbol of the Holy Spirit, 
41 

Watson, G. D., on spiritual illu- 
mination, 116; witness of the 
Holy Spirit, 121; strength 
through the Holy Spirit, 140 
Watson, Richard, on the person- 
ality of the Holy Spirit, 31; 
character of paganism, 167; re- 
generation, 246 


Wesley, John, on the new birth, 
245; dying to sin, 272; faith, 276; 
gifts, 354, 355 

Wesleys, tla, of humble origin, 
305 

Whitefield, of humble origin, 305 

Wind, symbol of the Holy Spirit, 
43, 90 

Wisdom, gift of, 327 

Witness of the Holy Spirit, 121; 
followed by fruit, 259; attended 
by victory, 259 

Word of God and the Holy Spirit, 
206 

World, view of moral distinctions, 
182; theory of judgment, 198; 
why in darkness, 201 

Worshipers, true, 286 

Zinzendorf, Count, view of sancti- 
fication, 263 


INDEX 


Chap. 





Page 

Chap. 



Page 



Genesis 




68: 18 

• • 

• 


321 

1: 1, 2 

• 

• • 

• 

19, 

23, 37 

78: 17-19 

• • 

• 


27 

2: 4 

• 

• • 

• 

• 

38 

91: 11, 12 

• • 

• 


124 

3: 3-5 

• 

• • 

• 

• 

147 

103: 2, 3 

• • 

• 


331 

4: 4 

• 

• • 

• 

• 

54 

104: 27-30 

• • 

• 


19 

6: 3 

• 

• • 

• 

• 

253 

118: 22 . 

• • 

• 


174 

6: 5 

• 

• • 

• 


249 

119: 18 . 

• • 

• 


209 

8: 8 

• 

• • 

• 


48 

133: 2 

• • 

• 


69 

24: 31-37 


• • 

• 

• 

235 

139: 7-10 

• • 



28 

41: 38 

• 


• 

• 

67 

. 143: 10 . 

• • 



36 



Exodus 





Ecclesiastes 



15: 20 

• 




333 

8: 11 

• • 

a 

• 

249 

15: 21 

• 




195 






15: 26 

• 




331 


Isaiah 




19: 16-19 





57 

4: 2 



• 

230 

34: 22 

• 




74' 

6: 7 



# 

87 







6: 8, 9 




26 



Leviticus 




11: 2 



220, 

310 

23: 17 

• 



• 

75 

35: 4-6 . 



# 

332 







44: 3 



• 

41 



Numbers 




63: 3 



• 

173 

11: 29 

• 

• « 

• 

51, 333 

55: 7 



# 

258 







61: 1 



• 

37 


Deuteronomy 



61: 2 



• 

47 

16: 9, 10 


• • 

• 

• 

75 


Jeremiah 






Judges 




23: 6 

• • 



176 

4: 4 


+ # 


* 

333 

23: 29 

• • 

# 

• 

46 

6: 8 

• 

• 

• 

• 

333 

81: 31-34 

• 

• 

• 

77 



2 Kings 





Ezekiel 




4: 34 





131 

3: 17 




301 

6: 8-18 

• 


* 


124 

16: 62 




64 







18-31 




253 


1 

Chronicles 



23: 27, 28 




64 

25: 3 

• 

• • 

• 

• 

333 

36: 27 




215 







37: 9 


. 44, 91, 

285 



Job 




37: 28 




29 

26: 13 

• 

• • 

• 

• 

19 

47: 1-12 . 



42. 300 

32: 8 


, . 

• 

• 

120 






83: 4 

• 

• . 

• 

• 

19 


Hosea 










7: 11 

, # 



48 



Psalms 





Joel 




14: 2. 3 





169 





18: 15 





215 

2: 23 

• 

• 

• 

42 

19: 1 

• 




151 

2: 28, 29 

• • 

• 

• 

51 

33: 6 

• 




19 


Micah 




34: 7 

• 




124 

3: 8 




130 

40: 6-8 

• 




77 

6: 6, 7 


• 


158 

46: 5 

• 




227 





51: 5 

. 




248 


Zechariah 



51: 12 





36 

2: 5 

• • 


. 

124 

58: 4. 5 

• 


• 


88 

4: 6 

92, 

138, 

237, 

370 


27 


405 


406 



INDEX 




Chap. 



Page 

Chap. 



Page 


Matthew 


14: 12 



136, 327, 344 

3: 16 



48 

14: 16, 17 



99, 104 

10 : 16 



48 

14: 20 



122, 309 

10: 18-20 



226 

14: 26 



210, 292, 3u8 

10: 25 



282 

14: 30 



186 

11:11 



66 

15: 5 



130 

11: 25, 26 



. 117 

15: 26, 27 



. 233 

11: 27 



. 150 

16: 7-15 . 


8, 22, 65, 100, 103 

12: 31, 32 



31, 377 

143, 204, 

206, 

230, 234, 383 

13: 10-23 



. 208 

16: 13 

18, 113 

204, 

213, 224, 309 

16: 18, 19 



. 65 

17: 3 


• 

109, 119 

IS: 19 



82 

17: 5 


• 

. 238 

18: 20 



84 

17: 17 


• 

221, 271 

19:17 



36 

17: 19 


• 

. 177 

19: 28 



. 243 

17: 22 


• 

. . 284 

23: 37 



. 250 

20: 22 


• 

. . 35 

25: 31-46 



. 198 





28: 19 



22 


Acts 






1: 3 



. 302 


Mark 



1: 4-9 



. 127 

3: 15 

• • 

• 

. 332 

1: 8 


8, 14 

, 89, 241, 311 

3: 28-30 . 

• • 

• 

. 377 

1: 13 



83, 283 

16: 10 

, # 


. 349 

1: 15 



79 

16: 15-18 


325, 

332, 342 

2: 1-4 

44," 45, 

51, 74, 92, 94, 283 





2: 5 


• 

75 


Luke 



2: 6 


• 

88 

1: 15 



67 

2: 7, 8 


• 

. 336 

1: 35 



28 

2: 36 


• 

. 122 

10: 8, 9 . 



. 332 

2: 39 


• 

135 

10: 20 



. 104 

3: 21 


• 

. 360 

10: 23, 24 



. 109 

4:29-31 . 


• 

. 318 

12: 10 



. 377 

5: 1-11 . 


• 

. 334 

21:15 



229, 328 

5: 3 


• 

27 

24: 11 



. 107 

6: 10 


• 

. 329 

24: 25 



. 209 

7: 51 


• 

27 

24: 49 



127, 302 

5: 31 


• 

. 175 





8: 9-24 . 


• 

. . 335 


John 



10: 34, 35 


• 

. . 58 

1: 1-3 


19, 

150, 218 

13:4-12 . 


• 

. 335 

1,: 5 



173 

14: 11-15 


• 

. 336 

1: 10, 11 



11 

17: 30, 31 


• 

199, 385 

1: 13 



243 

18: 24-28 



. . 330 

1: 14 

* 19, 

150, 

152, 177 

20: 24 


• 

. 127 

1:32 

• • 


48 

28: 25, 26 


• 

26 

2: 18-21 

■ • 


. 174 





3: 3 

• • 


. 243 


Romans 


3: 5 

• • 


29 

1: 4 

• 


. 174 

3: 8 

• • 

36, 41, 43, 90 

1: 20 

• 


151 

3: 19 

• • 


148, 194 

3: 4 

• 

• 

. 344 

3: 34 

• • 


68 

4: 6 

• 

• 

38 

4: 14 

• • 


42 

5: 8 

• 

• 

. . 152 

4: 19 

• • 


255, 257 

8: 2 

• 

• 

37, 251 

4 : 23 



88, 2S6 

8:3,4 

• 

• 

. 185 

5: 24 

• • 


. 244 

8: 5 

• 

• 

250, 294 

5: 40 

• • 


. 250 

8: 7, 8 . 

• 

• 

. . 249 

6: 27 

• • 


50 

8: 9-11 . 

• 

• 

38, 126 

6: 63 

• • 


. 251 

8: 13 

• 

• 

272, 365 

7: 17 

• • 


. 119 

8: 14 

• 

• 

221, 273 

7: 37-39 . 

• • 

. 41, 67, 69 

8: 16 

• 

• 

18, 121, 256 

8: 24 

• • 


65 

8: 17 

• 

• 

. 284 

8: 32 

• • 


119, 254 

8: 21, 22 

• 

• 

240, 361 

12: 23 

• • 


. 187 

8: 23 

• 

• 

78 

12: 27 

• • 


. 186 

8: 28 

« 

• 

. . 124 

12: 32 

• • 


. 187 

10: 17 

• 

• 

88 





INDEX 

407 

Chap. 



Page 

Chap. 

Page 

10: 18 

• • 


89 

2: 22 

106, 

282 

11: 29 

• • 


. 346 

3: 19 

. . . 98, 

140 

11: 33 

• • 


79 

4: 1-3 

• • • • 

295 

12: 1, 2 

• • 


274 

4: 11 

• • • ♦ 

336 

12: 8 

• • 


28 

4: 12 

• • • • 

337 

15: 16 

• • 


29, 35 

4: 13 

97, 221, 284, 

290 

15: 18, 19 

• 


28 

4: 24 


244 

16: 5 

, , 


282 

5: 8 


112 





5: 9 


36 


1 Corinthians 

5: 25-27 . 

21, 239, 264, 

282 

1: 27, 29 



71, 305 

6: 11-13 . 

. . 137, 

302 

1: 30 



. 280 

6: 17 

• • • • 

208 

2: 1-5 



315, 372 




2: 9-16 



121, 277, 328 


Philippians 


2: 10, 11 



28, 207 

2: 10, 11 . 

• • • • 

238 

2: 12 



. 119 

2: 12 

• • • • 

252 

2: 14 

*113, 164, 

249, 

307, 308, 328 

3: 3 

• • • • 

280 

3: 2 



. 308 




3: 16 



282 


Colossi an s 


6: 19 



. 129 

1: 13 

• • • • 

244 

t): 26 



. 309 

2: 6 

• • • • 

280 

12: 8 



28 

8: 3 

• • • • 

280 

12: 1-31 



282, 333 

3: 17 

• • • • 

280 

12: 3 



. 122 




12: 4-7 



289, 290, 322 

1 

Thessalonians 


12: 8 



28 

5: 19 

• . « • 

45 

12: 11 



289 

, 



12: 28 



. 290 

2 

Thessalonians 


13: 2 



119, 324 

2: 11, 12 

• ♦ • • 

148 

14: 1-19 



95, 333, 336 

2: 13 

• • • • 

35 

14: 24. 25 


. 309 




14: 39 

* 


. 334 

1: 16 

1 Timothy 

50 


2 Corinthians 

2: 4 

• • • • 

188 

1: 21, 22 



47 

2: 5 

• • • • 

150 

3: 2, 3 

• • 


78 

2: 6 

• • • • 

21 

3: 6-8 

• • 


241. 251 

3: 16 

• • • • 

151 

3: 17 

• • 


27, 37 




3: 18 

• • 


111, 252, 271 


2 Timothy 


4: 3, 4 

• • 


10, 149 

2: 6 

• • • • 

301 

4: 6 

• • 


. 121 




5: 16 

• • 


. Ill 


Titus 


5: 17 

• • 


244 

2: 13 

• • • • 

280 

5: 20 

• • 


. 301 

3: 5 

29, 243 

252 

13: 14 

• • 


23, 30 


Hebrews 



Galatians 

1:1 

• • • • 

20 

2: 20 

, 


9 

1: 9 

• • • • 

47 

4: 6 

. , 


38 

2: 14 

• • • • 

190 

5: 17 

. 


267 

4: 12 

• • • • 

157 

5: 22, 23 



259, 281 

5: 4 

• • • • 

304 

6: 14 



„ . 280 

7: 26 

• • • • 

173 

6: 15 

. 


. 245 

8: 10 

• • • • 

215 




9: 14 

28, 36 


Ephesians 

10: 14, 15 

61, 78 

1: 7 

• • 


21 

10: 27 


197 

1-13 

• • 


50 

10: 29 

• • • • 

394 

1: 14 

• • 


. 126 

11: 4 

• • • • 

54 

1 : 20, 21 

• 


11, 239 

11:40 

• • • • 

70 

1: 22 

• • 


282, 285 




2: 1 

• • 


244 


James 


2: 2, 3 

• • 


. . 250 

1:5 

• • • • 

310 

2: 5 



244 

1: 18 

• • • • 

254 

2: 19 

• • 


. 282 

4:2,3 . 

• • • • 

80 


408 




INDEX 



Chap. 




Page 

Chap. 


Page 

4: 4 


• 

• 

194 

2: 20 


62, 212, 292 

5: 14-16 



# 

. 345 

2: 27 


48, 117, 213, 292 






2: 29 


. 261 



1 

Peter 


3: 7 


. 262 

1: 2 

• 



29, 264 

3: 8 


184 

1: 4 

• 


• 

177 

3: 9 


260 

1: 8-10 

• 


• 

180 

3: 14 


119, 260 

1: 11 

• 


• 

20, 39 

3: 15 


. 144 

1: 12 

• 


• 

. 315 

4: 1-3 


291, 335 

1: 23 

• 


• 

244, 254 

4: 7, 8 


. 260 

2: 5 

• 


• 

. 282, 286 

4: 10 


. 152 

2: 22 

• 


• 

. 173 

4: 14 


21 

3: 18 

• 


• 

29, 384 

4: 17, 18 


61, 281 

4: 5. 6 

• 


• 

. 384 

5: 4 


. 259 

4: 14 

• 


• 

28 

5: 10 


. 121 

6: 1-4 

• 


• 

. 301 

5: 20 


. 119 



2 

Peter 




Jude 

1: 4 

• 

• 

* 

177, 244 

24, 25 


. 142 

1: 10 

• 

• 

* 

. . 141 




1: 21 

• 


. 20, 29, 67, 114 



Revelation 






2: 2 

• 

• • • • 335 



1 

John 


7: 15 

• 

. . . . 280 

1: T 

• 



. 123, 271 

21: 9 

• 

. 284 

2: 1 

• 



. 101 

21: 27 

• 

. 251 

2: 15-1T 

• 

• 

• 

. . 194 

22: 20 

• 

. . . . 280 


















* 








































\ I N 


? 









' 











